The Beanie & The Blonde
by Jordan Patten
Summary: Maya Andrews and Stuart Twombly have been best friends since they were kids. Their friendship survived her graduating high school a year early, them going to separate colleges, and everything else life threw their way. Now they are both interns at Google, and their feelings for each other have shifted. The only chance they have at a future together is getting these jobs at Google.
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer for the whole story: I do not own The Internship, but i do own my OC.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

Chapter One:

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:30am**

 **Are you here yet? I'm bored out of my freaking mind.**

Maya smiled at her phone before grabbing her bag and sliding out of her car. She typed her reply as she walked towards the building, locking the car behind her with the click of a button.

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:30am_

 _Just got here. Did you save me a seat?_

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:31am**

 **Obviously. Now hurry up.**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:32am_

 _Kiss my ass, Twombly._

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:33am**

 **I'd rather kiss something else... ;)**

Maya giggled when she read that text, looking up at the building as she got closer to the front doors. The walls were made of glass, and the word Google was in large font across the side of it. She glanced around and noticed some fancy fountains, cars designed to drive themselves, high tech bikes, picnic tables and a volleyball court in the giant courtyard.

She lifted up her phone and took a picture of herself in front of the building. She was wearing a black tank top tucked into maroon high waisted skater skirt, a nude cardigan that went down to the middle of her thighs, and a pair nude ankle boots with a small heel. Her dirty blonde hair was down to the middle of her back in loose curls which were blown back slightly from the wind. She had on a lightning bolt necklace that stopped just above the waistline of her pants, and a bunch of bracelets on her right wrist. She quickly sent the picture to Stuart then posted it on Instagram and Facebook before going inside.

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:34am_

 _In your dreams._

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:34am**

 **Every. Single. Night.**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:35am_

 _You're horrible._

Maya immediately noticed the temperature inside was refreshingly cool after being in the California heat. They must have really powerful air conditioners to keep such a large place cool. She slid her cell phone into her pocket and adjusted her cardigan, looking around.

The place looked even bigger on the inside. There was a freaking slide in the middle of the room, which Maya set a mental reminder to go on at some point over the summer. Even the chairs looked like fun. They were half spheres that you could practically crawl inside of.

Maya let out an amazed noise before heading towards the check in station and getting her badge which she clipped onto the waistline of her skirt. They gave her a snapback hat with the google colors on it that said 'Noogler' across the front, and had a mini propeller on the top. She shrugged before pulling it over her head It didn't match her outfit at all, but oh well. It was mandatory so people could tell the difference between the workers and interns.

She thanked the woman at the desk and made her way to the food court she had noticed. She ended up in line behind a really tall man. While she waited Maya pulled out her phone and checked her notifications. Her mother commented how proud she was on Facebook, along with a bunch of her friends from school and gym. Her instagram received a ton of likes, and a few comments about how pretty she looked. She replied with a blushing emoji, and was about to read Stuart's reply, but looked up in surprise when the man in front of her ordered a whole bunch of crap.

She stared at him in shock. He had two coffees, two bananas, a bag of bagels, four bags of chips, and three pudding cups. Maya gave him a polite smile before stepping up to the counter.

"Can I get a bottle of Gatorade, a orange juice, and two bags of chips?" She requested. The man smiled and said 'sure' before grabbing her things.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:35am**

 **You know you love it.**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:42am_

 _I absolutely do. ;D_

She thanked the man. "How much?"

"It's all free." He told her. Maya raised her eyebrows in surprise before grabbing a green apple and grinning at him. The man smiled at her and told her it was fine. She thanked him again before dropping the apple and bottle into her bag and heading towards the hall where the seminar would take place. It took her a minute to spot Stuart in the crowd of interns, but she finally spotted a familiar guy with glasses staring down at his phone and wearing a Noogler hat. She made her way though the people on the bleachers and slid into the open space next to him.

"Hey, this seat taken?" Maya asked teasingly, making Stuart look up from his phone.

"Finally. What, did you you stop to get you nails done first?" Stuart joked as he pulled her in for a sideways hug.

"To grab snacks, actually. And guess who's not getting his?" Maya said haughtily. She pulled her chips out and opened the bag. She had only eaten one chip when Stuart snatched the bag from her.

"That's fine. I'll just eat yours." Stuart said, popping a few chips in his mouth. Maya rolled her eyes and tossed him his gatorade before she started eating her own chips. Before she could reply, an Indian man started speaking through a microphone at the center of the room.

"My name is Roger Chetty, and I am head of the Google intern program. Welcome to Google. This will not be your average internship, oh no. You will do what we do, and we will watch how well you do it. Now you represent the finest schools, your intelligence, your achievement is well noted. But to excel at this internship you're going to need far more than brain power. What you're going to need is Googliness." Everyone laughed. "Nothing funny. Googliness. The intangible stuff that made a search engine into an engine for change. Now, you'll be divided into teams. By the end of the summer, only one team will be guaranteed a full time position. The other 95% of you will not. Now you have been split up into seminars to acquaint you with our campus and seminar descriptions have been emailed to each of you."

Maya pulled out her smartphone to check her emails and noticed Stuart doing the same.

"I would wish you luck, but it's not luck that you need. Get to work." Chetty finished speaking and people began leaving the hall. Maya finished her bag of chips and crumpled up the bag so she could throw it out in the next trash can she saw. Her and Stuart walked together to their first seminar which was in a different building on the campus. When they went in the were greeted by a woman at the door who handed them each two plastic paddles, a red and green one. They shared a look and found some seats next to each other.

"Are we playing some stupid game or something?"Maya took off her hat and shook out her hair while Stuart traded his hat for his usual beanie.

"Who the hell knows?"They both took out their phones while they waited for the seminar to start. Ten minutes later Chetty showed up.

"Now I recognize Google is not a conventional workplace." Chetty began. "Having said that, we have rules. I'm going to ask you a series of questions. You're going to raise the green paddle to indicate yes and the red paddle to indicate no."

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:05 pm_

 _What are we, five?_

Maya heard him snicker a few seconds later, then her phone vibrated.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:06pm**

 **When are they gonna have us sing our ABC's? After nap time, or story time?**

"So, let's begin." Chetty clicked a button on the remote in his hand, and the computer screen at the front of the room changed to show a question. "Having a beer with your boss."

Everyone held up their red paddle. Or at least, almost everyone.

"Some of you are under 21." Chetty pointed out. Stuart nudged Maya with his elbow and smirked at her. She stuck her tongue out. Everyone lowered their paddles.

"Some of us aren't under 21 so if you want to grab a cold one with me, I'd be happy to do that with you." Someone responded. Maya glanced behind her to see the man with short, curly dark hair, from the food court earlier, along with a blonde man. They were both much older than all of the other interns. Her and Stuart shared an annoyed look.

"I will not be grabbing a cold one with you." Chetty shut him down.

"You get high?" The man asked. Maya looked over at Stuart and he had the same incredulous look on his face before they both shook their heads and faced forwards, not wanting to get in trouble.

"I do not get high," Chetty replied.

"I'm not judging. I'm just saying, some people do it." The man must have leaned forward because Maya suddenly heard his voice whispering from right between her and Stuart. "That being said, if you want something cold to drink we'll hook you up."

"Okay, thank you. Just stop talking to us." Stuart replied, not bothering to look at him.

"I'm your Bill Holden in Stalag 17." The man said anyway.

"I really don't get that reference." Stuart said, still facing the front.

"Google it." The man replied.

"Got it." Stuart said, done with the conversation. Maya bit her lip to keep from laughing before reading a new text.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:08pm**

 **I'm about to hit this guy with these paddles. What the hell was he talking about?**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:08pm_

 _Stalag 17 is a thriller/drama that came out in 1953. The main character was William Holden._

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:09pm**

 **How do you even know that?**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:10pm_

 _I googled it. ;D_

"Dating a fellow intern." Chetty read out loud. Maya peeked over at Stuart through her curls, quickly looking forward and holding up a red paddle. She didn't notice him looking over at her before doing the same. "This is Google, not ."

Chetty clicked another button and an animated red paddle with the word 'NO' on it popped up on the screen. Maya supposed people got that wrong sometimes for them to have that at the ready.

"Chetty, excuse me. What about a full time employee? Say management level, but not a direct supervisor, great eyes, and a severity to her that is surprisingly sexy. What's the policy on that?" The other man, the blonde one, disrupted the seminar this time. Maya bit her lip and looked down, trying not to laugh. She let her hair cover her face so Chetty wouldn't notice.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:11pm**

 **You think these idiots are funny?**

"No? That's frowned upon also?" The blonde continued when he saw Chetty just staring at him.

"So we'll say no to love?" The first guy asked.

"We say no to love. Yes." Chetty affirmed with a sarcastic smile. The blonde held up the red paddle instead, mumbling something under his breath.

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:12pm_

 _They're like overgrown children who won't stop bugging the teacher. Chetty looks all kinds of fed up with them. Lol XD_

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:12pm**

 **So easily amused. :P**

"Now," Chetty said, making the screen change again. Maya looked back up."Taking food home from the office."

She held up a red paddle but heard the guy behind her say 'boom'. She shook her head.

"Are you having difficulty with this, Mr. McMahon?" Chetty asked, smiling though he was clearly annoyed.

"Just to drill down on this, what if there's like, a perishable? Say there was, like, a pudding or something that was left out." The man said.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:13pm**

 **How did these morons even get in?**

"You'd like to take home pudding, would you?" Chetty asked politely, though he was no longer smiling.

"I wouldn't mind taking home a pudding. I- I don't know what- But, that being said," Stuart let his head drop to his chest in annoyance. "If it's gonna go bad, is it okay to take it home?"

"Mhm. Anything else you'd like to take home?" Chetty asked.

"Well, I- let's say salsa and chips. something that's not wrapped." The man replied.

"Salsa, chips, and pudding." Chetty listed off.

"Or sushi." The man supplied.

"Salsa, chips, pudding, and sushi." Chetty reiterated. "Anything else?"

"Ice cream?" The man said.

"Salsa, chips, pudding, sushi, and ice cream." Chetty said.

"Pizza." The man said.

"Salsa, chips, pudding, sushi, ice cream, and pizza." Chetty listed.

"I wouldn't take home a frozen pizza. But if there was a nice pie that was out..." The man said, his friend chuckling at him. Maya rolled her eyes.

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:15pm_

 _He just doesn't know when to shut his mouth._

"Oh boy." His friend whispered with a smile.

"I am truly impressed, Mr. McMahon." Chetty said, walking forward and resting one knee on the seat on a chair and his hands on the back of it so he could talk directly to him. Maya slid over to the side so she was out of the way.

"Well, thank you." The man replied. Maya shot a look at Stuart. _Did this guy actually think that was a compliment?_ , she thought.

"At both of you. At how quickly you have confirmed my doubts about you. Now, let's try this one more time. Taking food home from the office." Chetty said, raising his voice slightly on the last few words. Everyone held up a red paddle again, this time Chetty joining in. "Very good."

He let the paddle fall out of his hand an onto the chair while giving the men a sarcastic glare.

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:17pm_

 _BURNED! Go Chetty! Go Chetty!_

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:18pm**

 **Lol, you're ridiculous.**

Chetty went back to the front of the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, that is all."

Everyone began collecting their things and leaving the room. Maya pulled her bag over her shoulder and slipped her phone into her pocket before taking out her orange juice and taking a sip. She smiled at Stuart and the two of them walked out of the room together towards their next seminar.

"I love that guy's accent." She told him. Stuart raised his eyebrows at her.

"Chetty's?"

"Yeah, it's adorable the way he rolls his 'r's." She explained.

"To be completely honest, I just really want him to say something like, 'This is Tech Support." Stuart said with a bad indian accent. Maya laughed at him.

"That was horrible. Were you trying to sound Indian or Jamaican?" She teased him. Stuart rolled his eyes at her playfully.

"Let's see you do better." He goaded her. Maya just shook her head.

"Nah, I know my strengths. Fake accents is not one of them. It would probably sound Scottish, or British if I attempted it."

"Yet you're making fun of me. At least I tried." Stuart exclaimed.

"And failed." Maya filled in, chuckling when Stuart sent a mock glare her way.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two:

The next day started the same as the first. Maya drove to Google, grabbed something to eat, and went to sit in the hall where they would listen for their next instructions. When she got there she found Stuart sitting by the aisle with one leg lying across the seat next to him. Maya walked up to him.

"Hey." Stuart looked up from his phone at her and smiled before letting pulling his leg down and sliding over so she could sit.

"All yours. You look great, by the way." Stuart complimented her. Maya looked away for a second so she wouldn't blush. She wasn't sure why she got so easily flustered whenever he complimented her. She always took it in stride when her past boyfriends called her pretty, even before they were dating. And Stuart was just her friend.

Maya looked down at her outfit. She was wearing a white dress with floral print that ended mid-thigh, a green army jacket that looked almost like a blazer with the sleeves rolled up, and a pair of open toed, peach color wedges that matched the color of some of the flowers on her dress. She only wore two bagless on her left wrist, and a simply tear drop diamond necklace that her father bought her. Her hair was down in loose curls again.

"Thanks. You're looking pretty good yourself." She told him, making Stuart roll his eyes. "I'm serious."

"Yeah, sure. Anyways, I'm pretty sure they're separating us into teams today." Stuart changed the subject. Maya decided to just go along with it.

"Yeah, I figured. I overheard Chetty saying something about the first challenge being today, and those are group things, so…" Maya shrugged before taking a sip of her orange juice.

"I just hope we don't get stuck with those two idiots from yesterday." Stuart said.

"Eh, they'd probably be entertaining." Maya said.

"That's just because you're easily entertained." Stuart said, chuckling when Maya shoved his arm.

"I am not!" She protested.

"Maya you spent a good twenty minutes playing with the propeller on your Noogler hat yesterday, and you wouldn't stop giggling every time I made helicopter sounds. That's something that usually only appeals to infants." Stuart said bluntly. Maya rolled her eyes, but a guy started speaking over the microphone before she could reply.

"Welcome to day two!" The guy called out and the crowd cheered a bit. "My name's Sid, eight year Googler. You guys are new Googlers, thus you're Nooglers!"

"Now it makes sense!" Maya exclaimed while everyone else laughed at the man.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Stuart commented on the title. Maya shrugged before pulling out her phone, Stuart copying her.

"Okay. Now, this place is all about community and collaboration. So you'll be working in teams from here on out." Chetty came up to the guy and yanked the microphone out of his hands.

"You have five minutes. Pick your teams."

Maya simply moved to the side and sat on Stuart's lap without looking up from her phone.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:03am**

 **Are you claiming me right now?**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:04am_

 _Obviously. I was just gonna put my feet in your lap, but I'm wearing a dress._

"CalTech. Nice. You're with me." Maya looked up from her phone to see a dark skinned guy with a british accent staring at her.

"Excuse me?" She said.

"I said you're with me. Let's go." He demanded. Maya let out a mocking laugh.

"How about you go fuck yourself, curly." Maya snapped before going back to her phone.

"My name is Graham." He told her angrily.

"I really don't care." Maya said bluntly without looking up.

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:05am_

 _What a dick._

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:05am**

 **On the bright side I think you really wounded his ego by brushing him off in front of the little posse he's creating.**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:06am_

 _Good. He would do well with taking it down a notch. Or ten._

"I was voted most likely to succeed out of my chess club." An asian guy was telling Stuart. Stuart looked at him for a second before going back to his phone.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:09am**

 **These people are ridiculous.**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:10am_

 _Let's not be so quick to judge. Maybe they're just not good with first impressions._

Some guy ran up the steps of the bleachers and began talking loudly to the two old guys from the other day. From what she heard, he was a team manager and he would be in charge of the leftovers, which included her and Stuart.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:13am**

 **If that guy keeps talking like that I'm gonna hit him.**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:14am_

 _He sounds like such a white boy tryna be gangsta._

Mauya jumped a bit and looked up when the guy yelled, "Let's get a team meeting go everybody! Come on, team meet time! Wonder twin powers activate!"

"You have got to be kidding me." Maya said, staring at the guy in shock as he walked off. Her and Stuart shared a look before she moved off of him and grabbed her bag before they followed the wannabe gangster to his office.

Maya sat on the end so she was resting the side of her body on the cushiony back of the couch and her legs were stretched across the seats, crossed at her ankles. Stuart plopped down by her feet while another girl sat by the computers across the room, the two old guys sat on stools, and the asian guy from before was seated in a normal chair.

"Alright," Their team manager said. "Let's get some Meet and Greet goin' up in this hizzy. I'm Lyle, and it's pretty much WYSIWYG- What you see is what you get. Been here at the Goog for four years. Working on seven prgies in esto momento."

"Wow, seven projects." The blonde man said, sounding impressed.

"Hey, they ask I do's it. What can I say, I'm a people pleaser. Especially the ladies, my mercedes!" He said towards the other girl.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:34am**

 **Is he trying to flirt?**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:34am_

 _God, I hope not. That was pathetic._

"So it's all good in Lyle's hood, ya heard?" Lyle continued.

"Uh, yeah. Is Lyle always gonna be referring to himself in the third person? Because if he is I might wanna punch Lyle in the face." Stuart said, making Maya snort before kicking his thigh.

"Play nice." She reprimanded him. Stuart sighed before going back to his phone, sending her a meme.

"Okay, tough but fair. Good note. Lyle's still a little nervous. Uh, first time manager. Lyle's a first time ma- I'm gonna stop doing it. I'll cut it out. Keep it to first and second person. Who's next?" He called out, taking a seat. The Asian guy stood up.

"My name is Yo-Yo Santos."

"Yo-Yo, how about a high five?" The dark haired man said, raising his hand. Yo-Yo flinched away, making everyone look at him. "Whoa! Easy, buddy. I come in peace."

"Jeez, Yo-Yo, did you get beat up a lot in school?" The blonde one asked.

"I was home-schooled by my mom." Yo-Yo answered.

"Did you get beat up a lot at home-school?" The dark haired guy asked. Maya resisted the urge to throw her heel at him for asking such a personal question.

"Discipline is a very important part of growth. But my mother was actually very nurturing. For example she selflessly provided me the milk of her bosom until I was seven years old." Yo-Yo said.

Maya slowly looked up from her game of Temple Run to stare at him.

"So it's like, uh, you're tying your shoes, you're climbing trees, you're blowing up fireworks, and you're right on mom. You got mouth on mom." The guy said, making a hand gesture as if her was holding a breast.

"Breast feeding leads to a higher IQ." Yo-Yo confirmed, not bothered by our reactions.

"Okay." The guy said, looking ready to change the subject. But his friend decided to comment.

"Actually the science isn't quite definitive on that." Maya quickly searched on Google and didn't even have to look at Stuart to notice he was doing the same thing. "I was bottle fed and it never slowed me down. Vitamins are vitamins whether they come from a teat or a baba."

"Wrong." Maya and Stuart said.

"Sorry, what was that?" The blonde asked as they all turned to look at them.

"Wrong. The teat or baba thing, it's wrong." Maya answered.

"We just googled it, so you're wrong." Stuart finished for her. Everyone continued to stare at them. "Oh, yeah. I'm Stuart."

"Maya." She told them, not bothering to look up from her phone as she looked at the website. Lyle waved at them.

"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you, Stewie, M-Dogg. but you can't trust everything you read on the-" The blonde started.

"The Journal of the American Medical Association?" Stuart cut him off. "Sounds pretty trustworthy."

"It says that breast milk more nutrients and that those nutrients are more easily digested and absorbed." Maya read out loud. "Your confusion's understandable, though. You were bottle fed."

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:48am**

 **And you told me to play nice. ;P**

"They're right. That's right." Yo-Yo agreed.

"Oh, guys, where;s all of this hostility coming from?" The dark haired guy asked.

"Where do you think it's coming from, you big tree?" Stuart snapped. This time Maya didn't say anything. As entertaining as she found those guys, she was severely annoyed that these two were on her team. Her chances of getting a job were slim to none with those two there. "Two fifths of our team are made up two old guys who don't know shit."

"Wow." The blonde one whispered.

"Okay, guys. I, for one, am very happy to have two strapping, mature gentleman on our team." The girl said, standing up. Maya raised an eyebrow, sharing a look with Stuart.

"Thank you." The blonde said.

"Oh, uh, I'm Neha Patel, and oh my god you guys would make the best Luke and Han."

Maya searched google images for those characters and compared them. Yeah, she could sort of see it. A little bit. If she squinted.

"Excuse me?" The blonde said, confused.

"Oh, Star Wars cosplay." Neha explained.

"Cosplay?" He repeated, still lost.

"Cosplay." Neha repeated. "Costume play. You know, where people dress up as their favorite anime or movie character. I'd be slave girl Leia. Yeah. Metal bikini top, metal G-string panty, high heeled leather boots. Of course I'm chained at the neck. Not too constricted, but just enough to make things interesting." Neha spoke in a low voice. Everyone stared at her.

"The neck constriction is interesting?" The dark haired guy repeated in shock.

"Yeah, a few of us get together and whatever happens, happens." She said. Blondie's eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up, his mouth forming a small 'o'.

Maya stared at her. "You need Jesus."

Neha turned and glared at her while Stuart snorted and Lyle laughed before covering his mouth.

"Anyway," She said, turning back to the guys. "Work-wise your 'skills' aren't really relevant here, or really in this millennium, so stay ou of our way. We're gonna do this shit on our own."

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:56am**

 **Her 'skills' aren't relevant anywhere other than a street corner. Horny bitch.**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:57am_

 _LMAO! Metal G-string? Seriously? She was trying way too hard._

"Well I'm loving this friction, you know why? 'Cause that's how you get a fire started." The blonde said. "I'm Nick, this is my pal Billy, And despite what you may think of us, we're here just like the rest of you just running down the dream."

"Alright." Lyle said, clapping his hands together as he stood up. "Team Lyle!"

They all stared at him.

"No, okay. We'll workshop that. It's in Beta. Okie Dokie. Let's go, out Translate Lecture is in fifteen minutes." Lyle announced.

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 10:01am_

 _We are so screwed._

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 10:02am**

 **Tell me about it.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three:

"Good morning, interns." Chetty's voice came from the speakers as all the computer monitors in their office went black before a small image of him speaking popped up on them. "Today marks the first of several challenges through which your team will show their merits. While internally dog-fooding a new product a number of Googlers reported a bug that disabled their audio. All two million lines of that code have been included in the source files. Your job? Find the bug."

The screens went back to normal and the team immediately got to work.

"Okay we should check the user reports." Neha suggested.

"Scan the logs for any red flags." Yo-Yo added.

"See what exceptions were thrown." Stuart said.

"I always start by drawing up strategies to sift through the code." Maya said, grabbing a marker and writing on the glass. They all got to work while Nick and Billy watched.

Code, right? Cods, right? Codes. So at the end of the day we're kind of looking to break the password here, right?" Billy said. Everyone started getting distracted but continued writing. "Maybe the answer's in the question. Maybe it's something with bug."

"Ureka." Nick called softly. Maya's hand paused as she lost track of what she was doing. She shook her head before writing again.

"Bug like fly. The fly. Is Chetty a cinephile?" Billy said.

"Goldblum." Nick said.

"Goldblum!" Billy yelled.

"Boggles my mind that no one has a notebook out." Nick said towards all of them. "You guys are focused on writing this gibberish. Maybe that's helpful, maybe it's not, but I guarantee what we're saying is helpful!"

"For the love of god, shut up!" Maya snapped. "We're looking for a bug, not a password. They are two completely different things."

"Keep going with that human connection. You had it." Nick said to Billy, ignoring Maya completely. She growled under her breath before trying to get back to work.

"Oh, you know what?" Billy groaned.

"Stay positive. Stay positive. Go, go!" Nick encouraged him.

"We're gonna go on fly, 'cause that's where we're at. Fly. We're flying it. Fly, fly. I like that. Buzzz… L Y F." Billy said, writing on the glass. "We scramble the letters it's life! For some reason I can't get fly out of my mind. And now I'm going Loped. Jennifer Lopez. Is it a fly girl?"

"Super fly!" Nick called. Pop fly! Uh, excavation. Earthquake! California!"

"That's it! Write that down! Do it, Do it, Do it down!" Billy yelled.

"Will you please stop!" Yo-Yo finally yelled.

"No, we're working!" Nick said.

"No, _we're_ working." Y-Yo corrected him.

"Yeah and that's a sharpie by the way, genius." Stuart pointed out, making Billy pause to look at the marker in his hand.

"That's my fault." Billy said, licking his fingers and trying to wipe it off. May shook her head in disbelief.

"Look, guys. I'm sorry, but you're not helping. You're saying a lot of words really fast that mean absolutely nothing." Neha told them.

"To find the bug we need to scan the user logs, review the code until we find the programmer's mistake. It's the only way." Maya explained, the others nodding in agreement.

"Except, what if it's not the only way?" Billy objected. Maya groaned.

"Go." Nick whispered as he pointed at his friend.

"Okay, you said someone programmed it. That means some person in this building wrote that code." Billy said.

"A human being." Nick agreed.

"Let's give him a name and call him Tony."

"Tony."

"Let's say Tony like kayaking." Billy continued. Stuart gave them the most annoyed, disbelieving look he could manage.

"Kayaking." Nick repeated.

"All of the sudden, me and Nick become friends with Tony." Billy spoke, Yo-Yo giving him a look as if asking if he was serious. "Me and Tony we're throwing a few beers back. Doing a little kayaking with my main man Tony. Tony's bombed on the open water, next thing you know we start gabbing about audio bugs!"

"Yeah, I actually think that's a great idea." Stuart finally spoke making the team, sans Nick and Billy, stare at him in shock.

"Good, great." Billy exclaimed.

"Finally." Nick said.

"Dark and stormy, feeling us." Bill said.

"Yeah, no. Feeling you big time, buddy." Stuart agreed.

"Terrific." Billy said.

"You know what, in fact, why don't the two of you guys right now go and find the programmer." Stuart told them. Lyle shook his head when he realized what was going on, but the rest of the team had already gotten on board.

"Great. Great idea." Billy said.

"Yo-Yo, who's our man?" Nick asked.

"His name is Charles Xavier." Yo-Yo said. Maya followed his line of sight to see the figurine of the character from the X-Men. Nick repeated the name while pointing at Yo-Yo.

"Perfect. Nick, write this down." Billy ordered.

"Steel trap!" Nick waved him off, gesturing to his head. Neha quickly jumped in.

"Uh, he's a professor… at Stanford. Yeah, just a few minutes away, really."

"Guys." Lyle objected.

"And he's in a wheelchair." Stuart added.

"Got it. Stanford, wheelchair. What else." Billy said.

"Uh, he's bald." Maya offered.

"Might be with his best friend who wears a metal helmet." Stuart said. Maya bit back a laugh at that one.

"He's in a suit." Neha said.

"He has a British accent!" Maya told them.

"British!" Nick yelled, pointing at Maya. "With my ear? We're done here."

"Okay, keep searching. Think fly, think bug. I promise you this somehow intercepts with Goldblum." Billy told them before following Nick out.

"Alright, back to work." Maya said as she turned around and started writing on the glass again.

Ten minutes later they had moved from the writing boards to the computers.

"Yo to the Yo, where are we at with ensuring it wasn't a networking issue?" Lyle asked Yo-Yo.

"Confirmed there was no packet loss. Almost done checking whether the encryption had the wrong certificate." Yo-Yo replied as he typed into the computer.

"I'm sorry, 'almost'?" Neha cut in from across the room at a desktop computer. "You're either done or you're not. You can't be almost pregnant."

"Yeah, hey she would know, guys." Stuart said, working on a laptop. Maya was sitting on the floor next to his computer chair working on another laptop. Today she was wearing a dark blue corset with pink floral designs on it, with a white cardigan thrown over it that had some light flower patterns on it. She had on high waisted jeans that were a midnight blue color, and a pair of pink heels. Her hair was clipped back half up half down.

"You know why don't you google 'asshole', Asshole." Neha snapped.

"She's right. it's not good enough. Get it together Yo-Yo." Yo-Yo berated himself, plucking out his left eyebrow hairs.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Maya demanded.

"Punishing myself for my inferior performance." Yo-Yo answered as he plucked more hairs.

"Okay, how about you don't do that? If you want to be punished you can go on a time out later. Right now you need to focus." Maya told him.

"Well, that's good. We got crazy over here, and crazy horny over here." Stuart stated, gesturing at Yo-Yo then Neha.

"Oh, let me guess. Big dick 'cause little dick?" Neha asked.

"Did your mind just immediately go to a penis joke? Is that like all you ever-"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Was that not witty enough for you because I'm too busy working." Neha snapped.

"Actually you're too busy yapping your fucking mouth. You're not even facing your computer." Maya cut in without looking up from her screen.

"Mind you own business, tramp." Neha barked at her.

"Sorry, what was that, little miss slave girl in a metal G-string?" Maya asked, still not looking up. "If you're gonna be an obnoxious bitch, at least attempt to multitask so we can get this done."

Another ten minutes filled with pointless arguing later, they finally called for a break and went to lunch. Neha was talking to Yo-Yo and Lyle on their side of the table while Stuart and Maya sat on the other side.

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:37am_

 _The deadline's at the end of the week but we're not even going to finish by the end of the summer if she doesn't stop picking fights over stupid shit._

"Hey!" Stuart said, drawing their attention to Nick and Billy as the men approached the table. "Did you find professor Xavier?"

"Yeah, we found him." Nick answered sullenly.

"Yeah, thanks so much for that. Really great team spirit." Billy told them. "Mind sliding over here?"

Stuart, instead of making room for them, slid closer to the edge and spread his legs to take up as much room as he could.

"I'm sorry, it really doesn't look like there's enough room for you." Yo-Yo said. Maya rolled her eyes and leaned over to talk to Stuart.

"Knock it off." She whispered. Stuart ignored her and sent a wink at the two men.

"Have a great lunch." Nick said dejectedly.

"Yeah, enjoy it." Billy added before the two of them walked away. Maya felt guilt rising in her stomach and let out an annoyed sigh before kicking Stuart's leg under the table, making sure to get him with her heel.

"Gah, son of a bitch!" Stuart hissed, glaring at her. Maya just glowered right back. He grabbed his phone and angrily typed out a text. He clearly didn't want to have this conversation in front of the rest of their 'team'.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:42pm**

 **What is your issue?**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:43pm_

 _You're being a dick. You didn't need to do that to them._

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:44 pm**

 **Since when are you on their side?**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:44pm_

 _I'm not taking sides. I'm telling you that you're taking this too far. They may be complete idiots, but that doesn't mean you should treat them like shit._

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:45pm**

 **And what do you call that little trip we sent them on to find a fictional character, hmm? A friendly joke?**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:46pm_

 _No, I call it being a bunch of assholes. We were frustrated and they were being difficult. I know how important this is to us, but maybe it's important for them, too! Ignore them if you want, but please stop going out of your way to make them feel unwanted._

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:46pm**

 **Why is this so important to you? You don't even know them.**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:47_

 _Because I know what it's like to be treated like dirt because you're different from everyone around you. Remember high school when we were picked on for being smarter than everyone else? I would never wish that on someone else. Please, just do this for me._

His reply took a minute, but this time his typing was a lot calmer and he was more relaxed.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:49pm**

 **Fine, but I'm only doing this for you. And I'm not apologizing to them.**

Rather than replying Maya dropped her phone on the table and grabbed Stuart's face, planting a big kiss on his cheek. She didn't even notice the blush on his cheeks or the surprised looks the team was giving them, because she was distracted by an alert on her phone. She heard the others phones go off and groaned when she read it.

"That asshole Graham and his team won." She said when she read the email.

"On the bright side the next challenge is a Quidditch match. That can't be too bad, right?" Neha said.

"Yes! I love Quidditch!" Lyle cheered. The others just gave him funny look before going back to what they were doing.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:53pm**

 **At least we have you on our team. You're still into running, right?**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:54pm_

 _Absolutely. And I've got good hand-eye coordination, I just don't really play team sports. BTW What the hell is a kwiditch?_

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:54pm**

 **Lol, It's Quidditch. A sport from the Harry Potter Series.**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:55pm_

 _I've never read those books! D:_

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:56pm**

 **Come over tonight. We have the whole week to prepare. We'll watch movies and I'll explain it to you. We can catch up. Last week was the first time I've seen you in person in three years :(**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:58pm_

 _I know, I know. I've missed you, too. Want me to give you a ride home? I'll need to stop by my place first, though._

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 12:59pm**

 **Yeah that sounds good. Can't wait!**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 12:59pm_

 _Me neither. ;)_

Stuart and Maya were steadily growing even closer ever since the internship began. They were used to being pen pals, sharing phone calls, and video chats on Skype ever since they went away to college. They were still close, but not like they were back in high school. But ever since they saw each other in person there has been this tension between them that they refuse to acknowledge.

Not to mention the fact that Maya thought Stuart had gotten extremely hot in the past few years. And sometimes, by the way he looked at her, Maya thought he felt the same way about her. Not that either of them had said anything, but they had been flirting a lot the last few weeks. Maya was a highly intelligent girl who graduated high school her junior year with a 5.0 GPA. So on a subconscious level she was aware that she was developing romantic feelings for her best friend, and she thought he was in the same boat. But she refused to really admit it to herself. The last thing she wanted was to ruin her friendship with Stuart over a silly crush.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four:

On Monday of the next week Maya was dressed in short black gym shorts with purple lining, a black sports bra, and a matching purple racing tank. Her wavy blonde hair was up in a tight high ponytail and she was wearing some black and white Nike sneakers. She caught Stuart staring at her toned tan legs for a good minute before he said hello to her, and she had to hide her grin. Her morning runs had done her body good, especially since she'd been doing it since her sophomore year of high school.

Right now her and her team were all dressed for exercise, and were running onto Google's game field. There were spectators there to watch the game, many of them lined up on either side of the path they had to take onto the field, so that the team was running through them to get there while they cheered them on. Nick, Billy, and Lyle all tried to look cool while the rest of them just jogged over.

"Are you really wearing a beanie?" Maya asked Stuart in disbelief.

"It's not a preference. It's a lifestyle." He told her jokingly, making her roll her eyes while fighting a grin. "Why the hell do we have to run with brooms between our legs, though?"

"The tech department hasn't figured out how to make them fly yet." Lyle cut in. She gave him a look asking if he was joking or not, but he had already turned away. They all ran to the middle of the field on their side of the line with Graham's team on the other side. The guy from last week, Sid, was playing referee.

"Alright, welcome to the Quidditch Pitch. Let's have good clean match, Nooglers!" He blew the whistle and everyone moved further back on their side to get into position.

"Am I the only one who can't stop staring at Chetty in that cloak?" She asked Stuart.

"At least he's getting into the spirit." He shrugged before looking at his phone.

"Maybe you should, too." Maya reprimanded him, gesturing to the device when he looked at her. He rolled his eyes before making a show of locking the screen and paying attention as the group huddled together.

"Okay, rules. The beaters toss the bludgers at the chasers before they can get the quaffle through the three rings. No blagging, no blatching, no blumping, no habersacking. I don't wanna see any quaffle hogging. No imperious curses, no confundus charms. In the unlikely event of a dementor attack use a patronous charm. I recommend the stag but that's a personal decision." Lyle told them. Maya stared at him with wide eyes before looking at Stuart who looked just as confused. He glanced at her mouthing 'habersacking?'.

"Lyle, Lyle, Lyle!" Neha interrupted. "These beautiful idiots have no clue what you're talking about. Come on, use your muggle words."

"Oh, I know that one!" She whispered the Stuart excitedly.

"Come on, Lyle, you're making me feel like I'm back in math 've got a couple savants here with eye-hand coordination. Just say game on and let us play." Nick said.

"Fair enough. Version 2.0: Peg them with the kickballs before they throw the volleyball through the hoop. Brooms in, people." Stuart gave her an exasperated look but they both stuck their brooms in the small huddle. "Hufflepuff on three. One, two, three!"

"Hufflepuff!" Everyone yelled. Stuart just mumbled it when Maya smacked his shoulder.

"Yeah son!Yeah, let's get it!" Lyle yelled.

"Is he on drugs?" Stuart asked her, staring after Lyle with an annoyed look.

"Honestly? It's a possibility." She answered.

They all ran to the white line in front of the hoops on their side nd kneeled down on it, waiting for referee to blow the whistle. Maya felt like a complete idiot with a room sitting between her legs.

"No mercy! no mercy!" Graham yelled at his team from across the field. Maya mocked his words.

"Tips down! Blue team ready?" Sid yelled.

"Ready!" Graham roared.

"Red team ready?"

"Bangarang!" Lyle yelled. _What the hell?_ , Maya thought.

"Brooms up!" Sid called. Everyone jumped into action, running for the balls. Maya tried not to look to awkward with a broom between her legs as she sprinted forward. The blue team reached the line first and grabbed the three balls. almost immediately earning a point when Graham threw the ball through a hoop. Nick and Billy began yelled questions while Neha and Yo-Yo tried to block the blue team from scoring a point, and failing.

"Billy, I'm lost!" Nick yelled.

"Head up! Head up!" Billy called back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's happening?" Nick continued to yell.

Maya stole the volleyball when the other team threw it and ran it to the other side of the field. The blue team immediately surrounded her.

"Maya!" Neha called. Maya, seeing she was open, threw the ball to her. Neha immediately turned and threw it to Stuart, who was looking down at his phone. The ball hit his head and he looked up.

"What the hell was that?" He snapped.

"Why don't you try looking up and giving a shit, man?" Neha told him. Stuart mimicked her words childishly. "Come on!" She yelled before running off to get ready for the next play.

"What am I supposed to- Come get me!" Billy started yelling, taking his broom from between his legs and swinging it around at people who got too close to him. "Come get it! That's right!"

Sid blew the whistle. "Get the broom between your legs, folks."

My bad. Let's go, let's go!" Billy yelled, putting the broom back between his legs. "Lesson learned, lesson learned."

"What the fuck does this have to do with computers?" Nick cried.

"Hell if I know." Maya called back.

Graham made another goal despite Nick's valiant attempt to throw himself between the ball and the hoop. Then they scored another point. Maya stole the ball again, but she didn't have a shot.

"Ball!" Billy called when he was open. She quickly tossed him the volleyball, but Graham whipped a kickball at his head and stole the ball.

"Thank you." He called as he ran off. Maya groaned before chasing after him, but he got a point before she got there

"Time out!" Billy yelled.

"Time!" The referee called, blowing the whistle. The teams ran back to their sides and huddled.

"Bring it in, guys. Come on. Let's huddle up!" Lyle waved them pulled the broom from between her legs and jogged over.

"It's over." Neha shrugged helplessly.

"Yeah, out teams a joke." Stuart agreed, taking his beanie off and tossing it on the ground. Maya groaned and threw her stupid broom onto the grass. Stuart reached over to absentmindedly rub her shoulder. She sighed and leaned closer. Graham's team had 70 points. There was no way they could catch up in the second half.

"Well I ain't laughing, How about you, Billy?" Nick asked.

"Hell no." He replied.

"Listen, we need to get our minds right and start believing." Nick told them.

"This reminds me of a little girl who had to get her head right and start believing, a little girl from a steel town who had the dream to dance. No one believed in that little welder girl, but thank God she believed in herself." Billy said.

"Are you talking about Flashdance?" Stuart asked him incredulously.

"That movie from the 80's?" She asked Stuart, tilting her head to the side.

"Yeah, you're damn right I am." Billy confirmed seriously. "That's exactly what I'm talking about."

"Got it." Stuart said, shooting Maya a look. She just shrugged.

"The deck was stacked against Alex, and you know how she overcame those odds? By believing in herself and trying. She literally had to become a maniac." Billy said.

"Have any of you ever been called a maniac? Maybe because you were a little bit different?" Nick asked them. Neha made a surprised face.

"My mom calls me a maniac every night when I tell her I love her." Yo-Yo admitted.

"Of course she does, Yo-Yo. You are a little bit, in a good way!" Nick told him. Yo-Yo nodded his head. Maya leaned over to whisper in Stuart's ear.

"Well, guess what? That old Bill Gates, they called him a maniac, too." Nick said.

"No question." Billy backed him up.

"Yeah, I don't think anyone ever called him a maniac." Maya corrected them.

"I just called him a maniac." Nick objected.

"Well, you know-" Neha started only to be cut off by Billy.

"God damn it, guys, you're getting off the point here." Billy said.

"You're right." Nick agreed.

"She had to strip down to nothing. She had to sit in that chair and arch her back, and she pulled a chain to nowhere, and doused herself with water." Billy told them, miming those actions.

"Yeah, where did that water come from?" Nick asked.

"Who knows?" Billy said.

"It came from her belief that it was there." Nick answered his own question, reaching his hand up dramatically.

"Actually, it probably came from some type of bucket or latch, or something." Maya corrected them, but they ignored her.

"She believed so hard she found herself with an audition in front of those stuffed shirts at the dance school, and she spun… Oh, and she spun and she spun and she spun and she spun and she spun herself into that dance school. And she spun herself into our hearts." Billy said.

"Is it weird that this stupid speech is surprisingly inspirational?" She asked him. He just nodded his head in agreement, both of them looking at Billy. Neha gave him a reluctant smile while Yo-Yo and Lyle nodded along as he spoke.

"Now for the second half of whatever the hell you guys call this game can't we all be that little welder girl who wants to be something more?" The kids shared some looks, nodding their head. Despite the really dumb analogy, the speech was getting their heads in the game. "Now, I know you guys aren't excited that we're on your team, but we're here. Guys, we're in this thing together. So I'm asking you, believe in yourselves, believe in each other. Let's put on our leg warmers and let's dance our asses off."

Maya chuckled at his words before sharing a look with Stuart who nodded. They both turned to Billy and waited for his command. "Alright, coach, what do we do?"

"Come in here, you little loveable maniacs. Get in here." Nick said, moving closer. They all huddled tightly.

"Now I've got an idea that would make Bear Bryant smile." Billy told them.

"No idea who that is, but we're listening." Neha informed them.

Five minutes later everyone was back in position, and their team was alert and ready when Sid blew the whistle this time. They all ran forward as fast as they could."

"Let's go!" Nick yelled to them. Graham tossed the ball back to his team but Billy jumped between them and hit it, tossing it to Stuart.

"Maya!" He called, throwing her the ball. The blonde caught it before throwing it to Lyle who ran the ball forward.

"Lyle! Throw it to me!" Nick yelled. Lyle threw him the ball and Nick tossed it up in the air, and Billy hit it into the hoop.

"Yes!" Maya yelled, bumping fists with Neha as they ran back to their side. Their team cheered while Graham's team groaned. As Stuart ran he playfully pointed at himself and at Maya, then at himself and back at her as he jogged forward. She rolled her eyes but smile at his excitement.

On the next play Stuart used his phone to his advantage and aimed the glare from the sun off of it into the goal keeper's eyes, blinding her.

"Blind her! I'm going in!" Nick screamed. He ran the ball forward, throwing it to Maya who made the shot. "Yeah!"

Stuart threw his fist in the air and yanked it back down to his side in a silent cheer. Then he blew on his phone and fist bumped again. "Yeah Maya!"

Maya laughed and sent him a grin and raised her hand for a high five as she ran by, him slapping his hand against hers. Nick ran back to their side with his finger pressed against his mouth in a shushing gesture, considering it was technically cheating to blind them. Oh well.

On the next play Graham's team member almost made a shot, but Billy smacked the ball away from the hoop at the last minute. He started waving his pointer finger at them and shaking his head from side to side.

The ball ended up on the ground and everyone ran for it, Lyle sliding on the ground and kicking into the air just before Graham could grab it. Yo-Yo hit it with the end of his broom and it flew over to Neha, who tossed it into the hoop.

"Eat it, Malfoy!" Lyle yelled at Graham. Billy started mocking a member of the blue team by waving his hand in front of his face like John Cena. On the next one a member of Graham's team almost made a shot but Stuart jumped sideways in the air and smacked the ball away from the hoop, into Nick's waiting hands. He ran the volleyball, using it to block a kickball that was thrown at him, before he threw it into the hoop.

"Yeah!" He yelled.

"Woohoo!" Maya screamed. The next play Maya had the ball and the other members of the team surrounded her, running her forward and blocking her from attacks.

"Alright guys, let's do this!" Neha yelled. The first ones to be taken out by kickballs were Nick and Lyle, but they kept running. Billy, Yo-Yo, Stuart, and Neha all slammed into the players that tried to stop them, Maya running forward. She quickly whipped the ball forward and it sailed through the hoop.

"She shoots she scores, baby!" Billy yelled.

"Whoo! Way to go Maya!" Stuart yelled.

"Yeah, baby! What's up!"Neha praised, high fiving her as the ran passed each other.

"That's my girl!" Stuart yelled, not even realizing he had made it sound like they were dating. Maya, who was already flushed, blushed deeply and patted his shoulder when she passed him.

"Tie game!" Sid yelled. Suddenly a guy in a golden onesie and gold spray paint ran onto the field and started dancing.

"It's the golden snitch!" Lyle screamed.

"Who the fuck is this now?" Nick asked.

"Get the tennis ball and we win!" Lyle told the team. The golden guy had a sock hanging from the back of his pants that clearly had a tennis ball inside it. He grabbed the sock and started spinning it around to tease them. Nick and Billy and Graham all shared a look before charging forward.

"Run you big tree!" Maya yelled after them. Out of nowhere Graham slammed into Nick's back and made him fall forward.

"Come on, ref! You gotta call that!" Nick yelled at Sid, who was busy helping a large guy who had been hurt. Graham grabbed the back of Billy's broom and yanked it up making Billy fly forward and clutch his genitals. Graham ran forward and tackled the golden guy to the ground, taking the snitch.

Sid blew the whistle and the crowd and the players on the blue team all surrounded Graham, lifting him in the air. Graham thrusted his hips and spun the sock around like a lasso, making Maya roll her eyes.

"You can't be serious! That bitch just staked me. That's gotta be illegal." Billy complained to Sid.

"Sorry, if I didn't see it I can't call it." Sid said apologetically.

"You okay there, golden boy?" Nick asked the 'snitch'.

"Yeah the snitch is fine." The guy answered with a fake smile.

"G D it!" Yo-Yo cried, slamming his broom to the ground as the team crowded together.

"Don't start that did your best out there today." Billy told him. Yo-Yo reached up for his eyebrow but Maya slapped his hand away. "That's the first time we all came together as a team"

"God damn it, illy's right." Nick agreed. "Let's keep it rollin'. You know what, let's go get a frosty." Nick suggested.

"I'm down." Maya said.

"I've got no plans." Lyle agreed.

"Yeah, let's do it." Neha said, smiling. They all walked together towards the building so they could change and go out for frosties.

Twenty minutes later they were sitting in their office lounging around as they ate their frozen treat. Maya was sitting sideways on the couch next to Stuart like they were their first day, but this time her legs were over her lap and she was pressed close to his side. Nick and Billy were sitting in the arm chairs, Neha was in a bean bag chair while Lyle and Yo-Yo were sitting in computer chairs.

"I loved that thing Lyle did. Where he kicked the ball to Yo-Yo." Nick said.

"Yeah, where did that move with the broom come from, Yo-Yo? It was genius!" Maya praised.

"Yeah, what about you? You were so quick we could barely see, Flash." Lyle told her. Maya rolled her eyes and Stuart shook her slightly which made her grin.

"And that save, Stuart? It was epic." Billy said. "Dark and Stormy over here kicking ass!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut up." Stuart mumbled, laughing.

"Come on. Admit you had fun." Maya teased. "Your obsession with your phone came in handy!"

"Oh, like you're not obsessed with your phone?" Stuart shot back rather than answering.

"That was smart, blinding her like that." Yo-Yo told him.

"Okay, so we all kicked ass today." Stuart admitted.

"Yeah!" They all cheered.

They spent the rest of the day hanging around their office, and by the end of it they were a lot closer than the day of the first challenge.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 5:38pm**

 **Okay, so maybe they aren't that bad.**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 5:40pm_

 _They sort of grow on you. Like a fungus :)_


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five:

The next day they didn't get the third challenge until the sun was going down. They needed to create an app and whichever one was more popular by the end of the deadline, wins.

"Alright guys, let's take this new team spirit and let's apply to this app challenge." Billy announced. "We've got this."

"Yeah, it's help if we had an idea for an app." Stuart pointed out.

"You bet your sweet ass it would, Stewie." Nick told him from his seat at a desk.

"No." Stuart said without looking up from his phone. "Never Stewie."

"Okay, no Stewie. Perimeter breach acknowledged, Stuart." He turned over to Billy who was sitting on the couch playing with a hacky sack. "It'll feel good when this one warms up to me. You know it's gonna happen, right?" He turned back to Stuart who gave him a weird look."I'm gonna break you down like a two-by-four, bronco. Watch me do it."

"Can I call you Stewie?" Maya asked curiously from her place next to Neha. After their mini party the girls had forgotten all about their dispute on their first day and were becoming fast friends. Stuart looked over at her with wide eyes.

"Uh, w-well, I- Do you- Do you want to?" He stammered. Nick and Billy shared a sly look that nobody noticed. Maya stared at Stuart for a few seconds before shaking her head.

"Nah, doesn't feel right. You look like a Stuart." Maya informed him, making him sag with relief.

"Thank god." He whispered so low she didn't hear him.

"Okay guys, let's brainstorm this puppy." Billy called.

"We're gonna put the coffee in the pot and let it percolate." Nick said, snapping his fingers a few times. "Let's go."

"I think it'll be to explore what apps have been most popular in the past." Yo-Yo offered as he went over to his computer.

"Go." Nick urged.

"Go backwards or go forwards." Billy added.

"Nice." Lyle praised Yo-Yo's idea.

"Oh and we could bin it, you know?" Neha offered before moving to do so.

"Fall out." Nick told her.

"Uh, categorizing needle-movers by the type of user." Maya told Neha who nodded excitedly and they quickly got to work.

"You're gonna do what?" Billy asked in confusion.

"There you go, girls." Lyle told them. "Hit it both by function and by old two-prong. You're on the forest moon of Endor, taking out the shield generator, and you're launching an offensive with Admiral Ackbar. It's not a trap."

"Alright guys, I don't wanna kill the momentum or the mojo that you have cooking, but to be fair with you labels and categories don't use apps. People use apps. So I have an idea…" Billy said. "Nowadays, people are taking pictures, right? They have their phones now; they're out. Something catches their eye, they want to take it. But then the photo's just sitting there... what if they take that photo and instantaneously put it out there on the line and they share it with their friends?"

"That's Instagram." Stuart told him, taking a seat at a computer chair and resting his ankle on his other thigh, using his phone. "It already exists."

"It's one of the most popular apps in the world. Facebook bought them for like a billion dollars." Maya explained.

"That's billion, with a 'b'." Stuart tacked on.

"Oh no, mine is very different from that." Billy waved him off.

"How if your's something very different from that?" Yo-Yo asked him.

"Because in mine you're taking the photo instantaneously and putting it out there on the line." Billy said, tossing the hacky sack in the air and catching it.

"Online." Lyle corrected.

"I'm putting my photos out on the line and I'm creating an exchange." He said, ignoring Lyle.

"Yeah, that's Instagram." Neha said.

"But mine is more of a social sharing on the line that's happening." Billy told them.

"Online." Lyle corrected again.

"Quick interjection. When you keep saying 'on the line', you do actually mean 'online', don't you?" Stuart cut in.

"Stuart, don't do that. You don't do that to a man!" Stuart gave Nick a 'bitch, please' look. "He's got a million dollar idea right here."

"Billion dollar idea." Stuart corrected.

"Even better! Let him flow."

"Nick, I appreciate it but you can't bring me down. I'm too positive. Come here, let me share something with you." Billy said. Stuart just scoffed.

"No. No."

"Please- Come. The both of you." He gestured to Maya and Stuart. She sighed before standing up and grabbing Stuart's arm to pull him with her. "I'm gonna explain this to you in a way that's visual."

"He's bigger than you two. Be careful." Yo-Yo warned. Billy grabbed Maya's shoulders and moved her to stand in front of them, then stood next to Stuart. "So now you're out there, take a photo of her." Billy ordered, making a clicking sound with his tongue. Stuart gave him an unamused look. "Go ahead."

Stuart sighed and pulled out his phone, pointing it at her.

Maya was wearing really short black high waisted shorts, a back tank top, a loose maroon colored sweater that hung off her right shoulder and had the sleeves pushed up. It was very loosely tucked into her shorts, and she was wearing dark tights with thigh high stockings and her heeled black lace-up ankle boots. Her dirty blonde hair was down in their usual loose beach curls and she was wearing a locket and a bunch of tied cord bracelets and some rubber and charm bracelets.

She shrugged before cocking her hip out, tangling one hand in her hair and striking a pose at the camera with a giant smile and a wink. The others laughed at her and Stuart took the picture.

"Now you take that photo, you put it on the line-"

"Online." Lyle corrected again.

"-you put it on Twitter, you put it wherever you want, that is _Instagram_."

"That's Instagram." Yo-Yo agreed.

"One hundred percent." Neha added.

"I get it." Billy told them.

"We're not dummies." Nick informed them. Maya just snorted at him earning her a scolding look from the older men.

"Point taken. Now let's go with my concept. Now you've taken a photo instantaneously or not instantaneously, then you take those and send those out on the line."

"Online." Lyle repeated himself, though he seemed to have given up hope at this point.

"You don't have to say shit. You don't. You just say I like that photo and you share that photo instantaneously on the line-"

"Online." Lyle cut in sounding exasperated.

"-with your friends. Now everyone's exchanging ideas, everyone's exchanging photos. And that's why the photos that are being shared on the line-"

"Online."

"-will be known as Exchange-agram!"

"Nice!" Nick called.

"Oh my god." Stuart mumbled as he sat back down.

"Holy shitballs, Billy. We don't have time for this!" Neha yelled. The laptop next to Lyle turned on and Graham's face popped up.

"Greetings fellow interns! Graham Hawtrey here. I've taken the liberty of attaching a link to our app which has already been downloaded two-hundred and thirty times. Oh yeah!" A picture popped up him and his team in a victory photo with a little trumpet tune playing. Lyle slammed the laptop shut.

"Great, we're gonna lose yet another challenge, we're not gonna get these jobs, and our lives are basically ruined." Neha said disappointingly, sitting down. Maya hopped up onto the desk next to Stuart and rested her feet on the side of the computer chair.

"Okay, hold on a second. Your life isn't ruined, you guys are twenty-one years old, you have your whole life in front of you." Billy reminded them.

"Do you even know what it's like to be twenty-one right now? I mean, a quarter of the kids coming out of college can't even get jobs." Stuart pointed out angrily.

"That's a correct statistic. Mother says you can work hard and go to the right school but nothing is guaranteed anymore. That's life, sorry." Yo-Yo added.

"These guys are right. The whole american dream thing you guys grew up on.. That's all it is nowadays. A dream." Maya told them. Stuart reached over and placed a comforting hand on her knee.

"You're too young to be this cynical. You really see the world this way?" Nick exclaimed.

"It's not how we see it, it's just the way things are now." Stuart said.

"Alright, that's it. Everybody up. Here we go. Let's go, breath of fresh hair time." Billy said, standing up.

"Why?" Yo-Yo asked.

"We have work to do." Maya reminded Billy.

"No no no no no." Nick told them.

"Uh-uh." Billy said.

"Time to hit the reset button. We're taking it to the street. We need to get our heads right because we need to come together as a team." Nick explained. Neha stood up hesitantly.

"What about the app?" Lyle asked them.

"This is bigger than an app." Nick waved him off.

"Okay, by the way we do have something pretty terrific in our back pocket with that Exchange-agram. Just let it marinate, stop saying no before you give it a chance." Billy winked at them.

"Oh, that's a winner." Neha said sarcastically.

"Let's go. time to light it up forever and never go to sleep." Nick said as he and Billy walked out of the room with the others grabbing their things and following after them.

"Can we talk about this 'on the line' online thing again, please?" Lyle called after the men.

"We're gonna follow the morons?" Stuart asked Maya.

"Maybe we could use a break." She offered before grabbing her bag and hooking her arm with his as they walked.

They ended up taking one of the Google buses out into the town, and left their things inside while they ate at a chinese restaurant. When they got there they learned that Billy knew Mandarin.

"Just let me have a bite!" Maya demanded, giggling as she tried to steal some of Stuart's rice. He moved his plate away from her, blocking her attempts.

"You should've gotten your own." Stuart said, laughing as she tried to lean around him and failed.

"I didn't want any then."

"You only want it now because I have it!"

"Exactly!"

"No.

"Please?"

"No.

"Pretty please?"

"Uh-uh."

"Don't you love me?"

"Not enough."

"Stuart." Maya whined, dragging his name out.

"Maya." He mocked. She just pouted at him until he sighed and laid his plate in front of her.

"Yay!" She cheered making him laugh as they both finished off the rice. They barely noticed the entire restaurant laugh as Billy said something in Chinese. Stuart just glanced up before drinking some of his beer. When he went to put it back on the table Maya grabbed it and took a long drag.

"Get your own!" Stuart cried, taking it back.

"Why would I do that when I can just take yours?" Maya asked him with a sly grin. Before Stuart could reply Billy started speaking.

"My friend here says there's a dance club down the street. It's supposed to be great."

"You're shitting me!" Nick exclaimed. They quickly finished their food and paid before walking down the street to where the man said the club was. However, when they entered, they realized it wasn't a dance club. It was a stip club.

There were half naked woman in skimpy underwear all over the place, there was music blasting, the lights were dim, and woman were grinding on both poles, men, and each other. Most of them had their breasts hanging out.

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:57pm_

 _What the hell?_

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:58pm**

 **This is stupid. Do we have to stay here?**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 9:58pm_

 _Nah, let's just go back to the bus. Are you sure you want to miss out on all of this?_

"Are you sure he said dance club?" Nick asked.

"You know, I was rockin' Mandarin, he was rockin' Cantonese, something clearly got confused in the middle but I say boom goes the dynamite! Happy accident, right?" Billy replied. A woman who had her breasts on display walked up to Billy and began walking down the line the group had formed.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 9:59pm**

 **Hmm.. Stay here with a bunch of perverted old men and horny sluts with no self respect, or go back to the bus to hang with my best friend. That's a real toughy.**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 10:00pm_

 _Oh, stop. You're making me blush ;D_

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 10:01pm**

 **Only because you look so adorable when you do ;P**

"Show you to your table?" She offered, stopping in front of Maya who was reading a message from Stuart on her phone.

"Great big world out there my friend. Just three inches up, I beg you." Nick called out over the music, nudging Maya's chin up with his fingers. Maya let him and looked in front of her to see a brunette woman with dark make-up and large breasts standing in front of her, staring at her like she wanted to devour her. The woman reached up to stroke her cheek. "Any questions?"

"You have such gorgeous bright gray eyes. They almost glow in the dark." The woman whispered lowly as she stepped closer and pressed herself against Maya, whose eyes were wide as saucers. The team was staring at the two women.

"Uh, thank you. Got them from my mom's side of the fa-" The woman cut her off by pressing her lips against hers. Maya froze in surprise before deciding 'what the hell?' and kissing back. The woman slipped her tongue in Maya's mouth and the two made out for a full minute. The woman finally pulled away and grabbed Maya's hand, holding it over her head and leading her off into the club while gesturing for the rest of them team to follow.

Maya was lightly pushed down into a cushioned semi-circle chair at a table, and the woman ran her fingers over her cheek again. "I'll be back for you in a bit, gorgeous."

Maya stared after the retreating figure of the woman in shock before turning over to Stuart, Lyle, and Yo-Yo who had followed and taken seat. "What just happened?"

"You just made out with a stripper." Stuart told her, staring at her.

"It was hot." Maya blurted out in surprise.

"Holy shit." Stuart said to himself with wide eyes.

"I'm not gay! I just… She knows what she's doing." Maya explained sheepishly. A blonde stripper led Neha over by the hand with Nick and Billy following after.

"Look at you, M!" Nick exclaimed, ruffling Maya's hair. "You're an animal!"

Once they were all seated a woman brought over a tray of full shot glasses.

"Whoo! It's about time this group had a night." Billy cheered.

"Let the good times roll!" Nick yelled before grabbing a glass. "Here we go! Bottoms up, Yo-Yo!"

Everyone grabbed a glass but Yo-Yo who refused when Nick tried to hand him one. "I can't. I-I can't."

"Why? You're twenty-one, right?" Nick asked, still holding out the glass.

"Yeah, but my mom says alchohol numbs the brain."

"Look, I'm not saying a shot of tequilla is the first step on the journey to self respect, but god damn, maybe it's a step in the right direction. Maybe?" He held the glass out again and the others raised their own glasses in encouragement. "Your call."

"One shot." Yo-Yo relented. They cheered.

"Whoo!" Maya called.

"Alright!" Neha cried.

"Atta boy." Stuart said, all of them raising their shots in a toast.

"Yeah!"

"That's it baby!"

"Whoo!"

"To a night we'll never remember!" Nick yelled.

Yo-Yo took his whole shot along with them, but didn't swallow it at first. His face contorted as he finally swallowed it, all of them waiting eagerly for his reaction. He opened his mouth and roared.

"Yeah!" They all cheered him on, clapping. Stuart patted him on the shoulder as they all jumped around.

"You got it!"

They ordered more shots.

Half an hour later they were wasted and going insane, dancing around at their table. The woman from earlier, whom she learned had the stage name is Glimmer, finally returned and pulled Maya out of her seat, pushing her onto a small couch before climbing into her lap.

Maya reached up, grabbing Glimmer's face and yanking her down for a rough kiss. After minute Glimmer pulled her mouth away and leaned over to whisper in Maya's ear.

"You want me to teach you how to give your boyfriend a lap dance?" She offered. Maya blinked blearily up at her in confusion before turning her head to see Stuart sitting on the other end of the couch. He had taken off his sweater and was just in a black t-shirt, downing a shot.

"He's not my boyfriend!" She slurred, the last word turning into a cry as the other woman ground down at just the right angle. The stripper chuckled.

"Maybe, but you want him to be. And trust me, baby girl. He wants you, too." Glimmer whispered. "What do you say?"

Maya was feeling particularly confident with the alcohol in her system and a stripper in her lap, so she nodded her head in agreement. Glimmer slid off of her and Maya turned over to Stuart who was sitting at the edge of the couch, drunk and watching them. Maya gave him a sly grin before crawling across the couch and sliding into his lap. Stuart looked up at her wide wide, dazed eyes.

"What're you-?" Stuart tried to ask her, but Maya just shushed him, lightly kissing his jaw. She heard and felt him release a shuddering breath beneath her, making her smile before planting and open-mouthed kiss on the space behind his ear. "Oh my god."

Maya grinned wickedly before taking his earlobe between her teeth and sucking on it. She heard him hiss and she slowly pulled away, sending Glimmer a nod. The stripper stepped up behind her and placed her hands on Maya's hips while whispering in her ear, guiding her movements. Maya let Glimmer show and tell her how to roll her hips just the right way for a minute before she decided she was ready to do it on her own.

"Holy shit." Stuart whispered, staring up at her. His glasses had been knocked askew on his face, his mouth was hanging wide open, and his head was bobbing around as he followed Maya's movements with his eyes, mostly focused on her lace covered breast that was showing since Glimmer pulled her loose sweater and tank top down a bit too much.

"Look at what we've got cooking over here!" Billy yelled. Maya heard a shutter click and saw a flash, so they both looked over to see Billy had taken a picture of them with Stuart's phone. "Exchange-agram moment, bitches!"

Stuart raised his hand and the two high fived each other before Stuart and Maya became lost in each other again. Maya ran her hands up and down his firm chest as she ground down on him. Stuart leaned up off the back of the couch so he could press a wet, open-mouthed kiss against her collarbone. Maya's mouth dropped open and she dropped her head back to give him better access as he trailed kisses along her throat.

Stuart had to take a trip to the men's room to clean up the mess he had made when Maya had pushed him over the edge. Billy went to accompany him while Maya fixed her shirt to cover her bra and went over to Neha and Lyle, who were watching a stripper in a room with a glass wall. There was water raining down from the ceiling as she danced with the pole. Stuart came back and wrapped an arm over Maya's shoulders while Billy went with Nick to get Yo-Yo his first lap dance.

"I wanna dance!" Maya called over the music, taking a shot before grabbing Stuart's hand and pulling him after her onto the dancefloor. Stuart put his hands on her hips and pulled her flush against him, the two of them moving in time with the wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed a kiss against his throat. Stuart made a small noise in back of his throat before leaning down to kiss her bare shoulder that her off the shoulder sweater wasn't covering. He trailed kisses up the side of her neck and she sucked on his earlobe while they danced.

"I wanna go in there!" Maya told Stuart after a while of dancing, raising her voice so he could hear her over the loud music. He followed were her finger was pointing to see the room the stripper was still dancing with water falling from above. He shrugged before pulling her over there. Maya spotted Glimmer and got excited.

"Glim!" Maya squealed, throwing herself at the woman and planting a big kiss on her lips. She had her arm resting on Glimmer's shoulder while Stuart was standing behind Maya. "We wanna go in there. Can we? Can we, pretty please?"

"Sure, baby girl." Glimmer agreed tugging Maya after her by the hand. Glimmer unlocked a door that led to the 'Rain room', and she told the other stripper something before gesturing for them to go in. "Diamond will take good care of you, gorgeous."

"Thank you!" Maya called as she climbed into the room and started dancing with Diamond on the pole, the water immediately soaking her. Stuart, Neha, and Yo-Yo all climbed in after her, dancing on the other poles.

"Whoo!"

"Yeah baby!"

Maya cheered as she ground against the stripper before switching over and dancing with Stuart, who was dancing like a total idiot. He had taken his t-shirt off and tied it on top of his head like a bandana. Maya laughed loudly as he whipped it around.

After a while they decided to get out and dry off. Maya and Stuart went back to the dancefloor and began jumping around with the music.

"This is awesome!" Stuart yelled to her. Maya threw her head back as she laughed.

"Whoo!" She cried out before whipping her head around. She looked up at Stuart to find him watching her with a big grin. Her hair was a wet tangled mess, and she still looked beautiful to him. Stuart reached over to wipe some of the hair out of her face, and Maya smile shyly up at him. They started moving their faces closer together, but just before their lips could connect they heard a commotion from over at the bar. They looked over to see Lyle talking to a woman with some dick picking a fight. They ran over along with the rest of the team and stood behind Lyle.

"Looks like somebody need their two way older brothers to fight for him, huh?" The asshole said, pointing at Billy and Nick who had gotten there first. The others quickly moved in. "oh, it's the United Colors of Nerd. Do all of you guys work together?I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's a tech company. Free cereal and ugly people?"

"Yeah, we do work for a tech company, dickface. Now why don't you back the fuck away from our team manager and his girl?" Maya snapped.

"Shut up, bitch." The man told her, making Stuart step forward agrily only to have Billy push him back.

"Oh, whoa! Hey! Come on, take it easy." Nick protested as a group of buff guys showed up behind the asshole. "Is this the Jets and the Sharks? So why don't you guys head that way, we'll head this way, and never the twain shall meet. Have a great night."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." He said, starting to turn around before swinging back and punching Lyle. Maya caught their team manager as he fell back and Billy swung a punch at the asshole. Nick punched the other guy that tried to jump in on his buddy. Lyle joined Nick while Yo-Yo jumped on the bar and let out a roar before jumping down on one of the guy's back. The guy ended up slamming him down and hitting him.

"My mother hits harder than you!" Yo-Yo yelled. Neha came over and slammed her foot into the guy's crotch from behind, making him groan and fall to the ground.

"Whoo! Down goes Frazier!" She yelled.

One of the asshole's friends slapped maya across her face and grabbed a beer bottle from the bar and slammed it over his head. It shattered on impact and the guy groaned in pain. Stuart came up behind her and quickly punched the guy in the face making him fall to the ground.

"Take that, you little bitch!" Maya screamed just before security showed up and threw her over their shoulder, escorting her and the rest of the team out of the club. She heard her friends yelling some stuff as they left the club.

"See you again!" Neha was yelling at the man she had taken down. "I'll kill you! Hide your kids! Hide your wife!"

"That's how you party!" Stuart yelled.

"Whoo! Yeah, baby!" Maya cried, high fiving Stuart as the man carried her past him.

"We're too hot to party, that's why they gotta kick us out,'cause they're gonna call the fire department!" Yo-Yo yelled.

They ended up taking the bus to a nice look out area to stare at the Golden Gate Bridge as the sky started to get lighter. Maya was sitting on one of the benches with Billy and Neha, drinking some water while Billy talked to her about her lack of dating experience. Stuart was few yards away with Nick watching the cars driving on the bridge, with his phone in his pocket rather than his hands. Yo-Yo was too wasted to do much more than lay face down on the other bench, and Lyle went off to find somewhere to pee.

"What about you?" Billy said, making Maya turn her eyes from Stuart to the older male.

"What about me?" She asked him, confused.

"I mean, you and Stuart. What's going on there?" Billy reiterated. Neha stared at her eagerly having obviously wondered the same thing.

"N-Nothing. We're just friends." Maya said. Billy raised his eyebrows at her.

"You two didn't look like just friends in that club. Or even at Google." He pointed out. Maya blushed and looked away. "What the story there, M?"

"Well…" Maya said, looking out at the view of the bridge and the water. "We grew up in the same small town. We were always friends, but we got a lot closer when we went into high school. People picked on us for being nerds. And we had to lean on each other. He became my best friend." Maya glanced over at Stuart and smiled at him when he glanced at her. He grinned back before they both turned back to the view. "I graduated a year early with a 5.0 GPA, and went to CalTech. It was absolute hell at first since I was younger than everyone there, and twice as smart. I went back to my dorm and locked myself in our bathroom every night and cried."

Billy put a hand on her shoulder in comfort, and she took a deep breath before continuing with a small smile. "But one day I texted Stuart, and when he replied I smiled for the first time in months. And talking to him became the highlight of my day, it helped me push through. We called each other, skyped, texted, and emailed, but it wasn't the same. We only got to see each other in person twice in four years. I graduated a few months ago with perfect grades and I was looking for a job… Stuart heard about the Google internship and it just seemed like the perfect chance to see each other again. To work in the same place and see each other everyday.

"We applied and we both got in. We met up in person just a few weeks before the internship started, and there was just this… spark. Like all of the sudden he was more than just my best friend. Like I wanted to kiss him, and hold hands with him, and…" Maya shook her head. "I don't know. It just felt like there was something different. He was still the same sarcastic, phone obsessed, dork that I grew up with, but my feelings for him changed. And we started flirting all the time, and whenever we would touch it just felt like it meant more… But we're still just friends."

"Maybe it's time to change that." Neha suggested, reaching over and grabbing Maya's hand. Maya smile at the two of them.

"Maybe." She agreed. She turned her head to Stuart, only to find him already staring at her while he spoke to Nick. She blushed and sent him a shy smile which he returned. They all looked over at Lyle as he stumbled towards them with his phone in hand, singing one of the songs that had been playing at the club.

"Lyle!" Billy greeted.

"Looks like you hit it off with Saffron tonight." Nick called as him and Stuart walked over. Stuart stood at the end of the bench where Maya was sitting and they exchanged small smiles before focusing on their team manager.

"I'm texting her that I love her and I'm sending her this picture I just took of little Lyle when he made pee in the bushes. Look, he's winking." Lyle told them, holding his phone out for them to see. Stuart quickly covered Maya's eyes with his hand.

"Lyle, Lyle, Lyle, that's a horrible idea. Please don't do that, you're drunk off your ass." Nick tried to object.

"I appreciate your concern but I'm flyin' baby!" Lyle sang. Stuart pulled his hand away from Maya's face when Lyle turned his phone back towards himself.

"Okay, Lyle you are not flying. What's seventeen squared." Billy tried to throw him off.

"Two-eighty-nine, why?" Lyle said, looking really confused. Maya giggled.

"Give me a harder question than that. you know where I'm driving with this." Billy said to the others.

"Try, uh, maybe square-root of seventeen." Stuart suggested.

"Four point three two, maybe?" Lyle guessed. Maya chuckled before handing Lyle her bottle f water.

"Drink this. It'll help you sober up." Lyle made a face at her but did as she told him.

"That's the app. That's the app we should do right there." Nick said, making them all look at him. "Some quiz question you gotta answer before you can send a drunk text or a drunk email or a phone call- something to protect you from yourself."

"That's good. Can we do that?" Billy said, turning to Neha.

"Hells yeah we could do that." She confirmed excitedly.

"Are you shitting me? I could program the shit outta that bitch on the bus ride home." Yo-Yo slurred out to them from his place on his bench.

"We could set it up so they turn it on when they know they're gonna drink, and it'll lock them out of their messages and social sites…" Maya said excitedly. "They would set it up with a question they could only answer if they thought really hard."

"I'll take that as an overwhelming yes!" Billy cheered."Come on!"

"Come on, let's get back to HQ!" Nick called out as everyone started getting up to go back to the bus.

"Hey, w-wait." Stuart said. "Let's- let's stay, like five more minutes, you know. Just, enjoy the view a little more."

They all shot him surprised looks and Maya smiled before grabbing his hand and pulling him over to Yo-Yo's bench so they could sit down.

"Wow. Yeah." Nick agreed as the others sat down at the other bench. Stuart patted Yo-Yo's leg before wrapping his arm around Maya and the two snuggled close to each other.

"You haven't worn your beanie since the Quidditch game." Maya pointed out, staring at him thoughtfully. Stuart nervously ran his fingers through his hair.

"Oh, um, yeah. I-I just figured I'd try something new." He replied. Maya smiled at him before laying her head on his shoulder.

"I like it."

They watched the cars driving over the bridge as the sun started to come up, not noticing the others were watching them rather than the bridge. They thought it was a much nicer view.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six:

The next day the entire team was nursing hangovers at google. They rearranged the office so the two couches were on the big green rug, facing each other with a small coffee table in between. Nick was sitting on the end of one couch with Yo-Yo laying down on the other end. Lyle was curled up on the other couch across from Yo-Yo with billy sitting next to him and Neha resting against the armchair. Stuart made a bed of bean bag chairs and was laying on it with his beanie pulled over his eyes, and Maya was curled up against the side of the bean bag with her face on Stuart's stomach. Stuart was running his fingers threw her wavy hair.

"The whole world looks like a pinwheel of death right now." Stuart groaned.

"Price of making memories, Stewie." Nick replied. He was still hungover but him and Billy had enough experience to have thought of getting coffees when they came in so they weren't as bad as the others.

"I'm thirsty." Maya whined. Billy, bless his heart, dragged himself off the couch and went out to grab her a gatorade. When he game back he tossed her the drink before plopping back down on the couch.

"I think I love you." Maya told him as she sipped at her drink. Stuart reached up and stole a sip while Billy just laughed at her.

"My liver hurts." Yo-Yo moaned quietly.

"Can't fix that one." Billy shrugged.

"Astonishingly," Chetty began loudly as he entered the office. Stuart yanked the beanie off his eyes and put his glasses back on, jumping into a sitting position while they all turned to look at the man. "You app received ten times more downloads than any of the other teams. It appears that you have won your first challenge."

"How 'bout it!" Billy cheered, fist bumping Neha. Lyle grinned and started to sit up.

"Whoo!" Maya cheered, hugging Stuart.

"Yeah!" Nick applauded. "Come on, baby."

"Congratulations." Chetty told them. Yo-Yo suddenly shot into a sitting position and puked into a trash can.

"Oh, easy there big guy." Billy said. Neha covered her mouth while Maya hid her face in the back of Stuart's shirt. Nick reached over and started rubbing Yo-Yo's back.

"Gets over excited." Nick told Chetty before turning back to Yo-Yo.

"Lovely." Chetty said, clearly disgusted as he left the room.

"Let it out. Let it out little feller." Nick whispered soothingly.

After that challenge, everything seemed to fall into place for Team Lyle. That night had brought them closer, and they were finally acting like a team.

They used their free time to sit down in some comfortable chairs somewhere at google and explain the basics to Nick and Billy. It was slow moving, but as the weeks went by they learned more and more.

The next challenge was about cracking codes which Neha had an affinity for. The team was cheering her on as she wrote on the glass while the other teams were heckling their champion.

"Come on, Neha!"

"you got it, you got it, you got it."

"That's it, baby!"

Chetty slowly walked by, checking the writing before giving them a thumbs up. They all cheered loudly as they won another challenge.

"Yes!" Maya screamed, jumping at Stuart and wrapping her arms around him. He grabbed her waist and spun her around before hugging her normally. They pulled apart and Maya gave Neha a double high-five, before the whole team started randomly high-fiving each other.

"Whoo!" Neha squealed, staring at her work in satisfaction.

To celebrate their victory the team had an X-Men marathon at Maya's apartment to show Nick and Billy who charles Xavier was. Billy and Nick sat on the couch, Lyle took the armchair, Neha and Yo-Yo were sitting on couch cushions on the ground, and Maya and Stuart were cuddled up next to each other on the floor with Stuart resting his back against the couch and Maya resting against him. everyone had a paper plate with some pizza on it and cans of soda.

"Our Professor X was way meaner than this guy." Billy told them. They all shot him amused looks, Neha laughing. "Wasn't funny at the time." Billy said.

Nick chuckled at his friend.

They found themselves joking around with each other, walking through Google as a group every day. They became closer and closer as the summer went on.

One day they were at another lecture between challenges, which was being run by Nick's crush Dana Simmons.

"Guys, when it comes to writing code, you've got your choice of a number of editors. Editors such as Emacs, Nano and VI have features like syntax highlighting and syntax specific autocomplete. Any questions?"

Nick and Graham both raised their hands. Dana pointed to Nick, and Graham shot her an incredulous look that no one even bothered to notice.

"It occurred to me, why not use Emacs rather than VI as the default editor for Ubuntu?" Nick said. Dana sent him a surprised look.

"That's actually… a very good thought, Nick."

"Thank you." He whispered.

"VI vs Emacs is a constant debate."

Billy leaned forward in his seat to shoot Nick a look, and received a sly wink in return.

"Moving on…"

Stuart and Maya had grown closer after their night out, but had yet to actually become a couple. they both knew the other had feelings for them, but neither of them wanted to start something if they didn't get the job. It would hurt too much to start something, only to find out they wouldn't be able to see each other anymore.

One day they were both eating lunch in the small food court and Stuart got curious about who she was texting all week.

"Who are you talking to?" Stuart asked, nudging his chin towards the phone in her hands. Maya glanced up in surprise.

"Oh, um, Tiffany." She answered, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"Who is Tiffany?" Stuart asked. He knew about all of Maya's friends back at CalTech,and she had never mentioned a Tiffany.

"I met her at the club." Maya shrugged. Stuart continued to look lost for a minute while he chewed his burger, before his eyes widened and he stared at her.

"The stripper? I thought you kept calling her Glimmer!" He hissed.

"That's her stage name. Her real name is Tiffany." Maya explained. Stuart continued to stare at her with his jaw hanging open. "She slipped her number in my pocket when we were dancing. After the Rain room."

"Are you… Are you serious?" Stuart asked.

"Yeah. She's actually studying to become a doctor." Maya informed him with a proud smile. He stared at her before finally shrugging.

"Tell her I said 'Hi'."

A couple of days after their most recent challenge, which they won again, Chetty called all of the interns to another large hall, this one with a large screen behind him that said 'Challenge'.

"Only two challenges remain, after which a mere handful of you will be offered full-time employment. Now, the next challenge is manning the Google helpline." Chetty announced, the screen changing to say 'Google helpline'. "This is one of the most difficult jobs we have. Combining both customer relations and product fluency. You will be judged on both. "Little bules with lines connecting them to the original words started popping up with words inside them, like  
Earth, Gmail, Chrome, and Wallet. "This is a very tight race, right now. I suggest you study up."

Chetty walked off stage and all of the teams rushed back to their offices to study. On the way there Lyle explained that he would be able to help them study but since he wasn't an intern, he wouldn't actually man the phones.

"Alright, let's drill it and kill it." Lyle told the group . They had all taken out their complementary Google laptops and found a seat in the room, all of them but Lyle and Maya sitting at a desk. Maya was sitting in a bean bag chair while Lyle was walking around the room. When they manned the helpline they would have a computer in front of them with the details they would give the person they were talking to, but they needed to know exactly where to find which fale they needed, and to do it quickly. "Authorization failure with Google Drive, Neha." Lyle fired off, walking over to the girl in question. she clicked on the file she needed.

"Permissions probably changed. Request document access." She read off.

"Bam!" He cheered before walking towards Nick. "Chrome connectivity issue, Nick."

Nick selected the correct file containing the information he needed. "Unselect proxy server for your LAN."

"Nice! Billy, I'm locked out of my Google Wallet account. "

"Is that under Email, or Wallet Help?" Billy asked.

"I don't know, sir. That's kinda what I called you for." Lyle said, pretending to be on the phone.

"Right. Here's the deal. I'm pretty terrific on the phones. I could sell prosciutto to a rabbi, and I have." Billy said, turning away from his computer.

"Except you're not here to sell anything." Yo-Yo cut him off.

"Yeah, billy. You're not gonna be able to bullshit your way through this one. " Stuart told him.

"The only way to nail this challenge is to study." Maya explained, shooting Stuart a reprimanding look. .

"You just gotta do it, man." Stuart said, trying to sound nicer.

"Well, great. then study up is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna study up/" Billy agreed, turning back to his computer. Lyle patted his shoulder but Billy turned to ask him a question before he could walk away.

"Let me ask you, is there, like, as a general rule, like, a blanket statement I could say

that could apply to literally anything? And then I'm either going to shove product down their face, right, or I'm going to give them another hotline?"

"What you are exactly is tech support. So if you referred them to another phone number, what would happen is that your phone would ring again, 'cause you'd be the number that they are referring to." Lyle explained patiently.

"What I'm suggesting is give me the blanket thing where I'm not necessarily wrong, I'm not necessarily right, and then I'll either hit them with another helpline, a real helpline, or I'll push

some product on them. You want me to shove some product down their throat? 'Cause I'll do it." Billy said seriously.

"Full disclosure, I think you're working harder than you have to. All you have to do is click the button and read." Lyle told him honestly.

"I got it." Billy said dejectedly, turning back to his computer.

"Bam, done! Read it." Lyle encouraged.

"I got it. I'll do it." Billy nodded his head, clicking on something.

"That's my man, Bill. Alright, it's going fine. How's everyone doing?" Lyle asked the team.

"Yeah, I'm good." Stuart told Lyle. Nick turned towards Billy.

"You'll get it." He said encouragingly. Maya watched the pair for a minute before closing her laptop and getting up to talk to Billy, making sure she was quiet so the others wouldn't hear her. She slid onto the desk and sat indian style. Today she was wearing her hair down in big curls, and she had dark skinny jeans with a white see through stop with a solid white tank top tucked into her pants under it. She had an oversized dark gray knit cardigan, and knee high brown boots. wasn't wearing any jewelry today.

"Look, I know it's hard admitting you need help. But you're a part of this team, and you can come to us." Maya told him softly. Billy glanced over at her before going back to his screen. "Look, how about I stay later tonight and help you study? We don't have to tell everyone else if you don't want to."

"Not even Stuart?" He asked her quietly. Maya grinned at him.

"Not even him." She agreed. They quickly made plans before Maya opened her laptop and went back to studying.

Later, when the sun had gone down and Google had mostly emptied out, Maya and Billy met up in the hall where their orientation was held. They brought over a bunch of pillows and made themselves comfortable on the bleachers. With their laptops in front of them, the pair began studying.

"Alright, what if you get a bad request message in Gmail?" Maya quizzed.

"In Gmail, a bad request message shows if… shows if your internet is down." Billy said slowly, selecting the option on his computer and entering. The computer beeped as the word 'incorrect' popped up. "Son of a bitch"

"Hey," Maya said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You'll get it. Some people have a harder time than others. But you're smart, Billy. You'll get this."

"Thanks." He sighed tiredly, rubbing his face.

"It shows-" They both jumped when they heard a man's voice from the seat above them.

"Oh my god!" Maya cried.

"Jesus Christ, you scared the shit out of me." Billy exclaimed.

"if your browser has a bad or outdated cookie." The guy continued, closing his own laptop and setting it aside. Maya noticed that he had headphones on, which he was pulling off.

"Wait, you could-?" Billy asked, noticing the same thing.

"Hmm? Yes." The man said as he moved to sit down next to them. "I can hear everything. I-I'm not actually listening to anything. This allows me to be with myself. I'm not very good with other humans." He said slowly.

"Well, I'm not very good with Gmail support." Billy said.

"No, actually you're quite horrible." The man corrected. Maya giggled and the man seemed a bit startled. Billy chuckled.

"You can do this. This can be learned. But those kids… Like this one right here." The man said, glancing at Maya. "The way they look at you, you have a way with people." He covered his mouth and made a weird noise like a cross between sucking a straw and blowing his nose. He wiped his hand on Billy's arm, and Maya stared at it in shock. "That's a lost art."

Billy just stared at him, stunned, and Maya burst out laughing. The man jumped this time at the noise.

"Sorry." Maya told him, still giggling quietly. She shook her head and turned to Billy.

"Look, Billy. He's right. you have this effect on people, and you don't even realize it. You and Nick, you were given a group of misfits who couldn't get along for five minutes without bickering. We treated you like dirt, but you were still nice, and tried to be helpful even when you had no clue what you were doing. You two brought us together and made us a team." She told him softly. "Have you looked at the others teams? None of them support each other like we do, and we wouldn't have all become friends if it weren't for you two. you're like the crazy uncles we never had."

"Thanks, M." Billy whispered with a smile.

"Go again." The man urged., pointing at the computer. Billy shot him a confused look. "Go again."

Billy took a deep breath before looking at his screen and clicking the next question. "In Chrome…" He looked up at the guy. "For you this is like teaching a little kid the alphabet, right?"

"No, actually it's like teaching a kid a letter. Just one letter." He held up one finger to make a point.

"Yeah, you're not- you're not- your strong point would not be communicating to humans." Billy told him.

"I know." The man agreed. Maya and Billy stared at him for a few seconds before laughing slightly. The man grinned at them, this time not jumping. He even joined in with an awkward wheezy laugh.

"Alright, that was my guy. Alright. Give it to me straight. I like it, no chaser." Billy said.

"We're having fun." The man said proudly.

"I am." Maya confirmed.

"Me, too. I hope you are." Billy agreed. they all laughed again before getting back to work.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

The next day all of the interns were in little cubicle desk areas with computers and phones. Today Maya was wearing a floral patterned skirt that flared out a bit, tight white t-shirt, a cropped denim long-sleeved jacket, and a pair of wedged heels. Her hair was half-up half-down with loose curls. She was chugging down a bottle of Gatorade to keep herself awake after spending most of the night helping Billy study. And she was texting the guy from last night who she had found out was named Andrew. He was a lot more comfortable talking to her through texts, and after he helped them out last night she really wanted to be his friend. She felt like he could use some.

 _To: Andrew_

 _At 8:56am_

 _About to start! Billy's super excited. Wish us luck!_

 **From: Andrew**

 **At 8:57am**

 **You two don't need luck. You know this stuff.**

 _To: Andrew_

 _At 8:58am_

 _Thanks, buddy. I'll text ya later and let you know how we do._

 **From: Andrew**

 **At 8:58am**

 **You are welcome. I'll talk to you later as well.**

"Welcome to the Google helpline," Chetty called. "You will man the phones for exactly one hour. Now, before you begin…"

"I'm so ready for this thing. I was up all last night studying. This is where team Lyle takes the lead." Billy whispered to Lyle. They fist bumped.

"...icon accessing your account so that we can review your work later. The helpline… is open now."

Phones suddenly began ringing. Maya quickly answered hers.

"Hello, welcome to Google helpline. My name is Maya, and I will be helping you out today. What going on?.. Alright why don't you deleting all of your cookies? That might be what's causing it. You did it? Did it work?... Wonderful, I'm glad I could help… No problem. Call back if you have any more issues."

"Hi! welcome to the Google helpline, this is Maya. How can I be of service? … Alright that mgith just be because your device isn't compatible with Google Play. Have you ever done it before with this device? … No? Then that's probably why. Why don't you try using a different device and if it still doesn't work, call me back and we'll figure it out."

"Time's up!" Chetty called an hour later.

"So soon? Man, I was just getting warmed up here." Billy called.

"Good going here." Nick joined in.

"Is smoke coming off this thing?"

Lyle came over and the team began high-fiving each other.

"Come on, ladybug." Billy said to Neha, high-fiving her.

"Please submit your log files so that I may review your work later." chetty announced.

"Happily." Nick said, submitting his files. "Hit the blue button."

"Where's that?" Billy asked Nick.

"Click the blue button, upper left hand corner." Maya told him, submitting her file.

"Mine's not blue, mine's gray." Billy told her. Maya froze. "It's not.. I can't click it."

"What?" She asked him, slowly turning her chair to face him.

"No, the blue one. not gray." Nick cut in.

"Mine wasn't clicking. Mine's gray. Is anyone else's gray?" Billy called.

"Did you not hear my opening remarks?" Chetty came over.

"Yeah, no, I heard most of your opening remarks. It's just, I was- I was getting in the zone. I was pre-gaming it." Billy said nervously.

"I was very clear that you had to log into your account so that I could review your work later." Chetty told him. By now the rest of the team was watching, along with everyone else.

"Well, the good news is that you reviewed my work now. You-you don't need the instant replay because you saw the touchdown live, in person." Billy said.

"I don't really understand that analogy, but I do know that attention to detail is of paramount importance here and my instructions were explicit. Now, if there's no recording, then it's as if you

didn't even show up today." Chetty replied.

"Except I did show up.I'm- I'm sitting right here, Chetty." Billy said anxiously.

"Well according to your log, you're not." Chetty said, looking at Billy's computer then back at him. Maya squeezed her eyes shut. "And since every intern must complete the challenge in order for your team to be scored… your team will unfortunately receive a score of zero."

"Zero?" Billy repeated. Maya bit her lip to keep from making any noice.

"Well done, Mr McMahon. Perhaps, next time more studying, less pudding." Chetty twisted the knife and patted Billy on the back before walking away.

"Chetty, come on." Nick protested. "You're not going to rip us with a technicality. He's right here."

"Oh Billy, Billy, Billy. What have you done?" Graham asked with a smile. "It's you lot I feel bad for. It's really hard to get here. Some of you are probably pretty intelligent. You deserve better. Sorry."

"Why don't you take your fake sympathy and shove it up your freaking-!" Lyle clapped his hand over her mouth and held her shoulder down when Maya tried to get up. Graham sent her a smug grin before walking away.

"It's alright, el mino. We'll get him." Nick patted Billy's shoulder.

"I studied for the test. I studied for the-" Billy said dejectedly.

"I know, Billy." Maya whispered, patting his arm as she walked by. The team grabbed their things and made their way back to their office. The whole walk Maya tried not to cry.

"Well, that's great. That's another win for team Graham." Stuart said from his seat in a computer chair. Maya was standing behind him, rubbing his shoulders.

"There's only one challenge left." Maya said sadly.

"Even if we're perfect it won't be enough." Yo-Yo pointed out.

"We had 'em, too." Neha said. Maya looked around but didn't see Billy. She frowned.

"We did, but you know, it's just a little hiccup. A little adversity, alright." Nick tried to placate them.

"No, Nick. Come on, face it." Stuart said. "Look, Billy's a great guy and everything, but he kind of blew it for us today."

"Yeah, I know-"

"The kids are right, Nick." Billy said, walking in. " I just wanted to come by and let you guys know that I- I did study last night. I tried my best."

"We know, Billy. I was with you last night. You did great. It was just a mistake." Maya tried to reassure him, but she couldn't make herself smile. this was her only shot at being with Stuart, and getting a good job at the same time. And it was pretty much down the toilet now.

"It's just, uh, you know today on the phones I just…" He shrugged. "It's my fault. And, uh, he was right when he said that you guys deserve better. I'm really sorry that I cost you." Billy looked at the ground and left the room.

"Billy." Maya tried to call him back but he kept going She went after him. Stuart cleared his throat, knowing what he said probably made things worse. Nick got up and followed after them.

"Damn." Stuart whispered.

"Billy!" Maya yelled, running after him. He just kept going. "Billy, come back. Please!"

"I'm just dragging you guys down, M. I'll be doing you a favor if I just leave." Billy told her as he grabbed one of the google bikes.

"That's not true! You did amazing today, you just got over excited and made a mistake! That's not a bad thing!" Maya cried, running after him. "Billy, please just come back. You're a part of the team!"

"I let the team down." Billy ignored her pleas and kept riding his bike away. Nick ran put a reassuring hand on her shoulder before hopping on a bike and chasing after billy.

Maya sighed before deciding to just go she walked to her car she got two texts. One from Tiffany and another from Andrew.

 **From: Tiffany**

 **At 10:03am**

 **How did you do, baby girl?**

 _ **From: Andrew**_

 _ **At 10:18am**_

 _ **Did you win?**_

 _To: Tiffany_

 _At 10:22am_

 _We did great, but my buddy forgot to log in before we started so he couldn't send his files to our boss after. We got a zero because technically it was like he wasn't even there and everyone had to participate._

 _To: Andrew_

 _At 10:24am_

 _We got a zero. Billy accidentally forgot to log in._

F **rom: Tiffany**

 **At 10:25am**

 **What a rip! I'm sorry, baby.**

 _ **From: Andrew**_

 _ **At 10:26am**_

 _ **He tried his best. You still have the next challenge.**_

 _To: Tiffany_

 _At 10:27am_

 _I know_

 _To: Andrew_

 _At 10:28am_

 _But can we still catch up?_

 _ **From: Andrew**_

 _ **At 10:30am**_

 _ **The final challenge is the most difficult, and worth the most. It could put you in the lead.**_

Maya read Andrew's text before a wide grin broke out on her face. She quickly texted the team to let them know.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight:

The next day the team, except Billy, were attending the meeting for all of the interns.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it has been an impressive summer. And one final challenge remains. Sales." Chetty announced. The team all turned towards Nick who looked down at the table. "Over a million companies advertise with Google. Find one that doesn't. Convince them.

The bigger the sale, the more chance you have of taking this competition. The winner will

be announced at our final meeting this afternoon. Good luck. Happy hunting!" Chetty finished.

They all made their way to the office.

"Sales, son!" Neha said excitedly. "Man, those other bitches are going down." Yo-Yo high-fived her. "Wait, where's Billy?"

"He left." Nick answered sadly, walking past them into the office.

"What?" Lyle asked in surprise,

"You heard him. He thought he was holding us back. And he didn't want to talk about it, that's for sure." Nick explained, taking a seat. The team gathered around him.

"We gotta get him back." Neha said.

"She's right, we're all a team. That's what you guys taught us." Yo-Yo added.

"I mean it might of been buried under, like, a mountain of obscure 80's references and just, you know, a ton of other super inappropriate bullshit that I guess was intended as life lessons," Maya smacked Stuart's arm when he said that. "But, I mean, you did teach us how to come together, Nick. You taught us that."

"Problem is when he makes his mind up about something, old Billy has a tendency to really dig in. We might have to get ready to do this one without him." Nick informed them.

"Yeah. but Nick, we wouldn't want to." Lyle said. "Right guys?"

They all turned to Nick and gave him a serious look.

"We don't want to win unless we do it as a team." Maya answered for them.

They quickly made plan. Nick and Maya would go find Billy and convince him to come back while the rest of them looked for a business. Maya and Nick were just getting out of the cab at an old folks when Stuart texted her.

 **From: Stuart**

 **At 10:53am**

 **Neha found one. Sal's Rocky Mountain Pizza Company, a small family business with amazing food and service. You guys got Billy?**

 _To: Stuart_

 _At 10:54am_

 _Not yet. This asshole chose to go far away, so we only just got here. We're about to get him though. Head there and get started. We'll meet you guys soon._

 **From:Stuart**

 **At 10:55am**

 **Fine. But hurry.**

"They found a place. I told them to head over and get started while we get Billy." Maya informed Nick.

"Perfect. Let's go get our boy." NIck said. They quickly made their into the small courtyard filled with old people, and found Billy standing there.

"Billy!" Maya called. Said man spun around.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" He demanded. Maya raised an eyebrow at him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Nick shot back as they walked towards the taller man.

"Billy!" Some guy with an old woman on each arm yelled. "Ethel and, uh, Dorris here say they're up for a little _group_ play. Can I count you in?" He started nodding his head making a weird face, and Maya and Nick both turned to stare at Billy incredulously.

"What the shit?" Nick whispered.

"What the hell did you get yourself into, Billy?" Maya demanded.

"Uh, I'm sorry. Randy, this is my old partner Nick, and team mate Maya. Guys this is my new partner. This is Randy." Billy introduced them. Nick and Randy started sizing each other up.

"Welcome to the jungle, ese." Randy told him before looking Maya up and down, smiling wolfishly. She was wearing a solid white tank top and ripped jean shirts. She had on a blue blazer with big bronze buttons and sleeves that ended just below her elbows, and some black and white converse. She had on two long necklaces that stopped just above her bellybutton, a bunch of bracelets on her right wrist, And her hair was down in their usual thick, dirty blonde curls.. "How you doin', baby?"

"Die." Maya told him, annoyed.

"Oh, feisty. I love it when they play hard to get. What do you say Billy, can I count you in?" Randy asked, winking at Maya.

"Uh, you mind giving me just a second here?" Billy asked, holding up a finger to get his point across.

"No problem." Randy agreed, turning back to the women. Billy led Nick and Maya away from them.

"What the hell are you doin'?" Billy asked them as they walked.

"New partner, huh?" Nick responded.

"I'm a salesman, Nick. I sell things." Billy defended himself.

"Doesn't mean you have to become a sellout." Maya informed him.

"Yeah, I remember another guy who was selling some things. Plying the mattress trade when in walks this behemoth. Big guy, big mouth, big dream. And he made this old son of a gun remember there's still some dreams floating around out there. It's not too late, you just gotta reach out and grab 'em." Nick preached. Billy stopped walking and turned around to face them.

"Damn it, Nick. I reached for my dreams. Why don't you just leave it alone. I messed it up for everybody." He snapped.

"You did not mess it up for everybody!" Maya disagreed. "You forgot to click a button! You're not a computer wizard, alright?"

"You're also not a pussy. You're tough. You grew up in the 70's! Remember what that was like? There weren't any computers, just like we didn't have bike helmets or sunscreens or seatbelts. Did you wear a seatbelt?" Nick added on

"No." Billy answered reluctantly.

"What was your seatbelt?" Nick asked him.

"My mom would go like this." Billy said, holding his arm out at his side.

"Yeah, it was your mom going like that." Nick agreed, copying Billy's pose. "And how'd that work out?"

"You know, I went through the windshield." Billy reminded him.

"Damn, were you okay?" Maya asked.

"Eighty-nine stitches. Made him look like a little badass all of third grade." Nick explained. "And were you afraid to get back in that station wagon? Nah, five years later you took out that very same car without permission from nobody- not your parents, not old man law, just you and Sally Moran. Parked at the point, finger blastin' away. Didn't even know if you were doing it right!"

"Ew." Maya muttered.

"Nick, where you going with this thing?" Billy asked.

"I'm saying life is that station wagon! Alright? And, yeah, sometimes it's gonna throw you through the windshield, crack your skull wide open, maybe even break your heart. But every once in a while it's gonna drop a Sally Moran in your back seat." Nick tried to explain.

"Look, you two came to Google for a reason." Maya cut in, making them both look at her. "And I can't promise that we'll win. But you need to come back and see it through. Isn't that what you wanted? To actually fight for something worth having?"

"She's right. Now you get your ass in that car, and you ride home. You hear me, Billy Bojangles McMahon? Ride." Nick urged. Billy stared at the ground for a minute before meeting their gaze.

"Let's do this."

The three of them quickly hopped in the cab. Maya, who was seated in the middle, leaned between the front seats to talk to the driver. "Sal's Pizza. If you can get us there in less than twenty minutes, you get a fifty dollar tip."

Maya was thrown back against the seats as the man floored it, and both Nick and Billy reached their arms out over her. She looked at them both before laughing.

"So you two are my seatbelt now?"

"You're damn right we are." Billy agreed. Maya smiled brightly at him before playing with the button on her blazer anxiously as they made their way to their team.

They got to Sal's in fifthteen minutes. Maya ordered him to beep the horn, and paid the cab driver the promised price before climbing out of the vehicle. The whole team was leaning against the wall of the pizza shop eating some pizza while staring dejectedly at the ground. Maya noticed Graham's team riding off on their Google bikes, and figured they must have said something.

Lyle was the first one to notice them and quickly captured the attention of the others, who turned and started running towards them.

"Welcome back, Billy Boy." Lyle greeted with a wide grin. Stuart reached his hand out and Maya immediately went over to him and clasped their hands together.

"Good to be with you." Billy replied.

"What happened there?" Nick asked, pointing to Sal's.

"Uh, well, he didn't bite so it did not go well." Yo-Yo answered, scratching at where his right eyebrow used to be. Maya winced at the sight of it.

"You know who else it didn't go well for?" Billy asked them, and Maya could feel a speech coming on.

"Lay it on us, big daddy." Stuart urged. Maya giggled and hid her face in his shoulder before looking back up at Billy.

"That's right, the little steel town girl Alex. When she finally got her shot in front of all those stuffed shirts, she took a tumble and fell. You want to hear something totally nuts? She picked herself back up, she tightened that little ass, and she pumped her legs, and she danced herself right back into their hearts and into a slot at that dance school." Billy told them.

"And that's what we're gonna do." Nick added, handing Maya a sharpie. She quickly uncapped it and drew a perfect eyebrow on Yo-Yo. "Tighten your asses. Let's go."

"Let's get her done, guys." Neha said.

"We've got this." Maya agreed, fist bumping Neha.

They all made their way inside, and the kids stood behind Nick and Billy who were seated at the counter, talking to Sal and his son Frankie.

"Listen, guys, we've always done things the same way. Yellow pages, flyers, San Jose Mercury News." Sal informed them.

"Now, look we're all creatures of habit, am I right Sal?" Billy said. "I mean, we all like what we know. There's no question about it. But you know what the scariest thing in life is? The thing in life that frightens us the most? Change."

"Yeah." Sal sighed.

"And by the way I think most people are guilty of getting set in their ways." Nick said. "I know I need change to come along and give me a little kick in the ass to get me moving."

"Now, listen guys. I know where you're going, but I'm not gonna change anything. Like I already told your friends, we're getting by okay." Sal told them firmly.

"Now with all due respect if you fight for your limitations you get to keep them. Do you hear yourself? You're getting by 'okay'.

"Okay!" Nick repeated. "I mean Jesus!"

"'Okay' isn't good, 'okay' isn't great, 'okay' isn't fantastic."

"I'm starting to think this guy is selfish! Look, I don't wanna get sideways with you. You're as big as a barn. He looks like he was carved out of a damn mountain, for God's sakes. But you're an artist, okay? This is great pizza! Picasso with pepperoni!" Nick praised.

"And, hey, stop it. Don't even get me started on the sauce. I mean is there nutmeg in there? Something. So look-it, I understand that you don't wanna divulge. But if I'm right, don't say anything." Billy said and him and Nick watched Sal who didn't do anything except smile.

"Exactly!" Nick and Billy cried.

"There's your answer!" Nick said.

"Sal, come on! All I'm sayin' is, why should Papa Jon's make all the dough when Papa Sal's got the better sauce?" Billy exclaimed.

"You know what? Now you're starting to sound like him." Sal told them, gesturing to his son. "He wants to open up a Sal's in Los Gatos."

"The bigger chains are killing us. We're barely staying afloat." Frankie explained.

"When you franchise you lose quality. You lose the taste that people trust." Sal told his son before looking back at the team. "You wanna know why my sauce is better? I'll tell you why. Because I go down to the farmer's market everyday, I buy them tomatoes myself. I walk down the street, I get the basil, the oregano. Look, guys, I know these people. I'm part of the fabric of this neighborhood. That's good enough for me."

"Sal, that's better than good enough." Billy agreed. "That's the best. And we're not saying that you should abandon the neighborhood here. All we're saying is, what if that neighborhood got a little bit bigger?"

"Look at this, Sal." Maya told them, laying Nick's tablet on the counter for them to look at. She went to the reviews for Sal's Pizza and scrolled through them. "These are all people that love your pizza."

"Talk about word of mouth, huh?" Neha tacked on, catching on to what Maya was doing.

"Yeah, they're talking about you, Sal. Don't you wanna talk back to them?" Stuart urged.

"did you know there are almost as many people in Los Gatos searching for a Sal's as there are in Palo Alto?" Lyle cut in, showing them the statistics on his laptop.

"Yeah, and they pop in when they're in town, but of there was a location closer to them they'd be regulars, right?" Neha threw in. Sal and Frankie exchanged a look.

"Boom, check it out right here. Just found a great commercial spot right on Los Gatos Boulevard." Stuart announced showing them the location on Google Maps on his laptop. "Just hit the market."

"That's point three miles away from the nearest farmer's market." Yo-Yo informed them, showing the details on his laptop. Sal and Frankie shared an astonished look.

"You can smell them tomatoes from your front door!" Maya exclaimed.

"Farm to table!" Neha said.

"F to T, baby!" Lyle called out.

"Come on." nick urged/

"F to T. F to T is exactly right Gomer Lyle! We're not asking you to abandon the artestry. We're just telling you to expand the reach a little bit." Billy encouraged. Sal shook his head looking slightly unsure. "But, look-it, Sal. At the end of the day the kids, they've got their computers, they got their information. It's all accurate, I get it and I know you do, too. But I tell you, Sal. I can't blame you for being a little afraid. Hell, we were scared for a long time out there, grinding it out

with our heads down. And Lord knows I've fallen on my ass more than a time or two. But I promise you something. You lift your head up… ...and take a breath, there's a lot of great

possibilities out there."

"New customers, new franchise... and that's just the tip of the iceberg, Sal. It's all waiting at the click of a button." Nick told him. Sal stared at them for a minute.

"Everybody's searching for something, Sal." Billy said.

"They're searching for you." Nick elaborated.

"We just want to help them find you." Maya added.

They all stared at Sal, waiting for his answer. Finally, he let out a defeated sigh.

"Okay." He said.

"Okay?" Billy repeated.

"Yeah, let's do this." Sal agreed.

"Okay!" Nick and Billy yeah. Frankie cheered, and Maya high fived Neha and Yo-Yo, Lyle and Stuart fist bumped, and Maya and Stuart hugged each other tightly.

"Yes!"

"Woohoo!"

"Get it!"

"Yeah son!"

"Alright, Sal. All you gotta do is sign here and we will be in contact with you to help you through this." Billy said, sliding the papers over to Sal. Sal shook his head before taking a pen and signing the papers.

"Oh, and Sal, can you do me a favor?" Billy asked. Sal shrugged and nodded his head. "Can we get a dozen pizzas to go?"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine:

On the cab ride over to HQ, Maya was hacking into the Google computers because apparently hacking was her specialty.

"Just how good are you at hacking?" Lyle asked nervously.

"I hacked into the pentagon a few years ago on a dare." Maya replied with a shrug.

"I was the one who dared her." Stuart told them proudly.

"Holy shit." Neha said.

"Done!" Maya exclaimed just as they pulled up to Google. Nick paid the cab driver and everyone climbed out of the car and making their way to the door of the hall where the meeting was taking place. Maya pulled out her phone and with a few clicks the giant screen behind Chetty started making creepy groaning noises as it was forced to change from pictures of interns, to an animation of little disco dancers that had Team Lyle's heads pasted on. The song _What A Feeling_ from _Flashdance_ started playing and the little disco people danced to it.

"Way to go, M!" Nick cheered. They all ran inside holding several boxes of pizza. They all had a little jump in their step and they danced to the music.

"What's going on?" Chetty demanded.

They all started dancing down the aisle passing out pizza's. Chetty tried to get everyone to calm down, without success.

"You get a pizza, and you get and pizza! You all get pizza!" Maya cried as she tossed her pizza boxes to the crowd. The boys opened their pizza boxes and started handing out slices, Billy tossing them into the crowd. When her hands were empty she continued to dance down the aisle, hip checking Neha before they both flipped Graham off. They danced their way to the front, and danced around with each other as they waited for the others to get there. Billy started lowering a slice into a random girl's mouth as her and her friends cheered before he just dropped it.

"Nice!" She heard Sid call as he and most of the crowd clapped along with the music. The rest of the team joined the girls and Stuart threw an arm over Maya's shoulders as they watched Billy rile the crowd up by twisting a slice of pizza around and holding it up to his ear. They cheered louder and he threw the pizza up towards the balconies, hitting some random guy in the face. Maya threw her head back and laughed at that.

"Come on!" Billy exclaimed before dancing up to chetty and holding up an unopened pizza box with the papers Sal signed sitting on top of it. "Extra toppings on this one, boss."

"I see that." Chetty state, looking over the papers. Billy clapped spinning around, rolling his fists around each other then striking a pose with one leg extended and the opposite hand pointing to the sky.

"Yeah!" Billy called, the crowd cheering louder.

"That's enough! That's enough!" Chetty called as Billy made his way over to his dancing team. Maya took out her phone and turned the effects off, leaving the screens wallpaper up, and the music off. The crowd stopped clapping, looking disappointed.

"It's lovely theatrics, but the jig is up. It's too late. Rules are rules, right Chetty?" Graham called out smugly.

"Yes, rules are rules." Chetty said. "And the rules state that every team ahs the right, until the announcement is made, to turn in their sales."

Stuart pumped his fist and squished Maya into his side as Neha and Yo-Yo shared an excited look.

"So, in spite of your lack of punctuality, which is astounding, I have no choice but to accept this submission, and to recalculate." Chetty told them. the team clapped and cheered quietly. Chetty and Sid the pizza and Sid gave him a tablet to calculate the results with.

"Go ahead. One small sale to a family pizza joint's not gonna make a difference anyway." Graham said.

"It does seem that Mr. Hawtrey is correct once again." Chetty called. The smiles fell off the team's faces.

"Boom!" Graham said.

"The sales to one small shop on the last challenge are not enough to put you in the lead." Chetty told them. Billy apologized to Nick and they patted each other on the shoulder. Maya took a deep breath and hugged Stuart tighter, grabbing Neha's hand. Lyle patted Yo-Yo's shoulder. "But, this is not one shop."

Chetty started walking down the steps of the stage as he spoke, everyone watching him as he walked over to the team. "You see, this… is a blossoming franchise with endless possibilities, thanks to you. And what you have done as a team is connect to people, and connect those people to information. Which is what we do. And more than that, you had the courage to dream. In spite of your obvious and astonishing limitations, you never gave up on that dream. So, gentlemen and ladies-"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Hold on." Graham interrupted as he got up from his seat. "Chetty, no offense… You're a glorified babysitter."

"He's the head of the Google internship program for a reason, you asshole!" Maya snapped at him. He ignored her.

"Let's get someone down here who actually means something!"

"I'm right here!" A voice called out from the crowd.

"Terrific." Graham said sarcastically when he saw who it was. Maya looked over to see the guy from the other night who had helped Billy study. Everyone watched and there were murmurs from the crowd as he got up from his seat and made his way up to them.

"Hey buddy!" Maya cried happily. Andrew sent an awkward smile in her direction.

"Graham, please meet Mr. Anderson." Chetty introduced, looking a bit amused.

"You know this guy?" Billy asked.

"I should think I do. Andrew here is the head of search. A rather important position here at Google." Chetty explained aa Andrew took off his headphones and stopped in front of Graham.

"Honest, it's an honor." Graham said nervously, clearing his throat as Andrew just stared at him.

"Look at you, Headphones. A little mystery behind the boy." Billy commented.

"How do you two know him." Graham demanded.

"He's my buddy." Maya said, stepping forward and bumping fists with Andrew. "He did us a solid and helped Billy study. We've been text buddies ever since."

"We were encouraged to reach out to experienced Googlers. Pretty simple, not a big mystery." Nick replied.

"To reach out to other Googlers, not just kiss their asses." Andrew said to Graham.

"Ohhh, the sass is real." Maya whispered.

"You see, these interns are smart, collaborative, pretty," He directed the last one at Nick who nodded his head and whispered 'thank you'. "and just weird enough to make them interesting. Also, they came together as a team to do something here. Their googliness is truly off the charts."

"Oh my god. Can we just stop with the googliness." Graham groaned as he rubbed his hands over his face. "What does that even mean?"

"The fact that you don't know what it means is why you will never work here. Also," Andrew lowered his voice and stepped closer to Graham. "you just made me use a bunch of words in front of a ton of people. Look at me." He leaned back to look Graham in the face. "You're a real dick for doing that." He leaned back again. "Look at me again. And I know your accent is bullshit. What?" He dragged out the last word in a high-pitched voice. before walking away. Maya stared after him with her jaw hanging open and a wide smile.

"The sass master." She laughed before yelling after him. "Text you later, Buddy!"

Chetty turned to them. "So… Welcome to Google."

They all broke into wide smiles and the crowd started clapping and cheering.

"Ha ha!" Nick cried.

"Yes! Yes!" Neha squealed.

"Oh yeah, baby!" Lyle yelled.

Stuart grabbed Yo-Yo's shoulders and shook him in his excitement, and Neha and Maya started jumping up and down.

"Whoo!" Maya cheered. Neha jumped at nick and hugged him. Lyle hugged Nick and Maya wrapped Yo-Yo in a hug. Yo-Yo and Lyle both jumped up and bumped chests.

"I have a job!" Yo-Yo smiled in disbelief. "I have a job."

Stuart turned over towards Maya to see her smiling at him, and she never looked more beautiful. Her dirty blonde curls bounced as she jumped around and her bright gray eyes were lit up with elation and she smiled widely. She was practically glowing,

"We did it! We actually-"Stuart didn't even think about it before he cut her off, grabbing her face and pressing his lips against hers. Maya froze in shock and Stuart slowly pulled away, starting to panic as he realized what he'd done. But before he could even apologize she started smiling again and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, reaching up to kiss him again.

The team cheered as the couple kissed passionately in front of everyone there, oblivious to the clapping and wolf whistles aimed their way. They slowly pulled apart and smiled at eachother before Maya wrapped her arms around Stuarts waist and he tucked her against him with his amrs over her shoulders. Nick clapped Stuart on the back.

"Way to go, Stewie!"

"Finally!" Neha shouted and she grabbed Maya's arm and shook it. Billy came over and ruffled her hair.

"About time, M!" Billy told her.

"Get some, baby!" Lyle cheered.

"Since when do they like each other?" Yo-Yo asked, and the whole team laughed at how oblivious he was. Maya leaned her head back and smiled up at Stuart who returned it before leaning down to kiss her again.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten:

A few days later Team Lyle was gathered around each other before Stuart, Neha, and Yo-Yo had to head back to their colleges. Maya had graduated last year since she graduated high school a year early and went straight to college. Maya was wearing a white lace crop top with a salmon colored skater skirt, a jean jacket and white converse. Her hair was down in her usual loose curls, and she had a few bracelets on her right wrist along with a long necklace that ended just below her breasts.

"Have a great senior year, guys. We'll keep your desk chairs warm for you." Lyle told them. "Team Lyle!"

"Team Lyle!" They all cheered, putting there hands together before it turned into a giant group hug.

"Yo-Yo! Come now!" A Chinese woman called from next to a silver car.

"Mom, I need a minute. Yo-Yo told her. She started talking at him in Chinese. "Mom, I'm saying goodby to my friends. I'm taking a minute. Okay?" Yo-Yo interrupted her firmly. She froze before nodding. A man in the driver's seat who looked just like Yo-Yo turned his head and Maya saw that he was missing his right eyebrow, too. He gave his son a shocked smile and a thumbs up.

"Look who grew an eyebrow, Yo-Yo!" Billy exclaimed, nudging Yo-Yo's arm.

"Look at you!" Maya praised. The whole team congratulated him before they all shared another group hug.

"Alright, you riff raff. Get outta here!" Billy told them. "See you down the road."

"See you, bud." Stuart told him and Nick.

"Bye."

"See you next summer."

"Bye, guys."

They all said their farewells before Lyle walked off with his girlfriend Marielena. Nick and Billy walked off together. Yo-Yo went to his parents and Maya walked with Neha and Stuart to the Google bus which would take them back to their colleges. Stuart had an arm around Maya's shoulders and his suitcase in his other hand, and she had her arms wrapped around his waist.

"Don't be a stranger, you two. Shoot me a text sometime." Neha told them.

"Forget that, we're gonna come see you in person." Stuart told her.

"Hey, guys, I grew a pair of balls. Did you see that?" Yo-Yo told them as he walked up to them.

"We did. It was amazing." Neha praised.

"A big pair of balls." Stuart agreed.

"They're touching my ankles." Yo-Yo said.

"Okay." Stuart cut him off. "We don't need that."

Maya helped Neha load up her luggage as Stuart loaded his on his own. When their suitcases were in the bus Stuart and Maya hugged each other.

"I'm gonna miss you." Maya sighed.

"I'm gonna miss you, too. But we'll be texting everyday, and I can call you or Skype you between classes. You'll let me know what it's like actually working here." Stuart tried to soothe her, though he gripped her tighter.

"And we'll visit each other as much as we can. You can come stay with me over your breaks." Maya added.

"See, we've got this all figured out. And when I graduate-"

"Which I'll be there for."

"We'll be working together. We just have to be patient."

"Fine." Maya sighed, pouting when they pulled away from each other. Stuart lightly placed his hands on either side of her neck and leaned down to kiss her. They forgot about the world around them and didn't separate until Neha shook them.

"The bus is about to leave, guys. We have to go."

"Bye." Maya whispered. Stuart leaned down and pecked her on the lips.

"Bye." He slowly pulled away from her and climbed onto the bus. Before Maya could get too sad Nick and Billy stepped up on either side of her and started escorting her to their cab.

"Come on, M. We're taking you out for a celebratory lunch before we start our first day of work." Nick informed her. Maya shook her head before smiling and giving in.

"You're paying." She told them, making them groan. She giggled before checking her phone when it went off.

 **From: Andrew**

 **At 11:36am**

 **Congratulations.**

 _ **From: Tiffany**_

 _ **At 11:42am**_

 _ **Good job, baby!**_

 _From: Stuart_

 _At 11:53am_

 _I miss you already and the bus hasn't even left._

Maya grinned before replying to them and shoving her phone in her bag.

"Let's go, boys." The guys grinned at her before Billy opened the cab door for her to get in first.

"Let's." He agreed.

"You know, this has been one hell of a summer." Nick commented.

"Hell of a summer." Billy agreed.

"And it only gets better from here." Maya added.


End file.
